The What Goes Around Blog

Begin The Day With A Friendly Voice

Begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive. Neil Peart

I’m leaving Cleveland today, where I have spent an excellent weekend being extremely well looked after by some lovely friends, thanks Frank, Tammy, Melissa, Dan and Tim. I’m heading down the road to Columbus, Ohio, to see more friends, before going to watch Rush play live at the Nationwide Arena.

I am a big fan of this band, expert musicians who ooze respect for one another and the people who buy their records and turn out to see them perform. I’ve seen them play live loads of times, and with the news that this may be their last tour, I’m excited to be having this opportunity. Thanks Carole, for being so generous and helping me make time to extend this adventure.

In preparing to move on, yesterday afternoon I spent 45 minutes wandering and wondering around downtown Cleveland, looking for a mailbox. In my hand were 25 envelopes, each one containing a small piece of original artwork, a ‘kind note to self’, drawn and written by some of the 100 people who came to my Art and Soul of Work session at Summer Brandcamp. I will write more soon on my exciting, humbling, powerful time at this event in Dallas last week, but for now I just wanted to share this idea of a hand written kind note to self, both as a way of extending the experience of spending time with good people, and reminding ourselves of what’s important to us in our own unique way. I succeeding in posting the envelopes, so in a few days time, 25 people will be able to begin their day with their own friendly voice.

Why Do You Do It?

It is 6am, Monday 1st June. My bags are packed, and a ten hour flight to Dallas awaits.

I’m off on an adventure, and in the run up to an adventure, there are two things people often ask me: ‘Why do you do it?’ and ‘How do you do it?’. The answers to both questions are intertwined.

Why and how do I do it?

I do it because I’m fortunate to be part of an extraordinary network of people, nestled within which are many, many such opportunities for adventuring. You are part of that network too.

I do it because my lovely family are kind enough to support me. Rumours that the snoring in our house desists while I’m adventuring are unsubstantiated.

I do it because I ask.

I do it because you never know when your last adventure will come along, seize the day.

Itinerary

This adventure starts with the excitement of Summer BrandCamp. From there I head to Cleveland to meet more friends, to see some baseball, enjoy dinner in great company, and to visit the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Homeward bound via Columbus, where I hope to visit some more friends before seeing Rush play live for the umpteenth time. They are an excellent live band, and this gig will be extra special as this looks likely to be part of their final tour. Thank you Carole for so generously suggesting I extend my adventure to take this in.

Jealous

Less frequently, people will tell me they are jealous of me going on adventures. To anyone who feels jealous when they see someone else about to go adventuring, I offer this. I know how you feel, I used to feel like this too. The good news, is – there’s a simple cure. The first step is to park the jealousy, the key to that is to decide to go on an adventure. From there, you just push on and make it happen.

Adventuring. I do it because it’s fun, and because I can. And if I can, you can too.

Have an excellent week.

Persistence and Gratitude

A short post about keeping going, and giving thanks.

In a few days I’m heading to Dallas for Summer Brandcamp – somebody pinch me.

I first heard about this event a few years ago and I’ve been attracted to it ever since. After watching from afar for a couple of years, a few of my American friends suggested I should try and find a way to get over to Dallas and take part. I think it was Joe Gerstandt who first put me in touch with the founder of Summer Brandcamp, Joni Doolin early on in 2013. We’ve been exchanging notes and ideas, missing each other, falling in and out of sync and all kinds of things ever since. Never quite managing to make it happen.

Truthfully – I thought about letting it slide this time around, maybe it just wasn’t meant to happen. Or maybe it was. Several months ago, Joe gave me another nudge, so Joni and I started to share ideas again. Then I spotted Michael VanDervort putting in a good work for me, which was followed by another thumbs up, this time from the totally HR Famous – Laurie Ruettimann.

The conversations continued and this time, the ‘net’ in network tightened up just enough so that the idea didn’t fall through. For longer than I care to remember I’ve been an ordinary person taking part in an extraordinary network. I think I’ve been good at investing in that, because connections matter. Without People – You’re Nothing. I’m slowly getting better at asking too. Laurie – thank you for recommending The Art of Asking to me, I love the book and I’ve bought copies for three other people so far.

It’s 2015 and I’m going to Brandcamp. I’m going to catch up with many friends, and I’m sure I’ll make some new ones too. This time, with the help of some lovely people, I persisted. I’m excited and I’m grateful.