I’m back from a long trip, in which I visited and spoke in Richmond, IN, Cincinnati, OH, Los Angeles and San Diego. It was awesome fun, and I met amazing people everywhere I went. But I have to give special props to Richmond, IN.
To get to Richmond, I flew in to Dayton, OH, rented a car and drove for about 1 1/2 hours. It was pleasant enough, and I was getting amped up for my two workshops the next day. All good.
But this is when “better” started to happen. I went to the Hampton Inn in Richmond, and was greeted by a sign that said I was their Guest of the Day, an award for which there was no crown, but they did upgrade me to a King Suite, and give me freebies at the local restaurants and gummi worms and snacks and water. All nice.
I was coming to Indiana at the invitation of Fredricka Joyner at Indiana University East. I hosted two creativity workshops on Deliberate Creativity and offered the FourSight assessment to 30+ people. The groups were from many local companies and NFP organizations and had been attending innovation offerings at IUE, some of them for years. They were sharp, fun and engaged. IUE has built a great community in Wayne County.
When I left there at 6ish, i wanted some dinner of course. I checked out my freebies, and based on the coupons provided, I went to Texas Roadhouse and got a free Onion Blossom. Before that, the hostess came to offer me a bag of free roasted in-shell peanuts, because it was my first time in a Texas Roadhouse.
I was looking forward to the Onion Blossom, but I was alone, and those things are HUGE. I served myself one quarter of it, and ate it happily. I waited for a new couple to be seated near me. I just wanted to give it away. Who doesn’t like a deep fried onion? The couple I offered it to were in their 50’s and I knew it was an odd gift – to say the least. But I offered and they accepted.
When my dinner was done, i gave my remaining coupons to my waiter who’d been very nice to me. He could have the five free wings, or free nacho plate at his convenience. I was leaving Richmond the following day. I asked for my check, and he told me it was taken care of. I was of course surprised, but he said, “Don’t worry. It’s just someone good who wants to pay for your meal.” I left him a tip, but he followed me out of the restaurant to return my $5.00. “You gave me those coupons,” he said, “and I’ll get an automatic tip on your bill, I just couldn’t take this.” He insisted I take it back.
I had some good ju ju in Richmond, IN. And if I stop and think why? I was in a great energy myself. I gave as good as I got. I’m not saying i deserved those generosities, but I guess I did. I’d have been fine without them. But just the idea of walking up to a table of strangers to offer my half-eaten Onion Blossom was weird but important to me. They’re good, and I had no expectation of eating any more of it. Why did they accept it from a stranger? Because bloomin’ onions are good, and they trusted me. Who paid for my meal and why did a waiter turn down a tip? Where does this kind of “luck” come from?
These are the times I believe in the Law of Attraction. I had magnetic and generous energy, and when it went out, it came back to me in surprising and delightful ways. This ju ju didn’t continue as obviously as I continued my 4-city tour, but it was a generous and magnetic trip all around.
This makes me think of something my friend and adventure coach Wendy Kranz (www.damnthirsty.com) said to me. It’s a matter of energy and action. You need both. You need to permit yourself to enter that rare and wonderful energy, and then act on it, and accept its gifts.
I couldn’t possibly quantify the gifts of traveling and meeting people who care about your work. I spoke on creativity to about 200 people in 12 days. It is an optimistic view of the world when the only people you’re engaging in are interested in creativity. As my trip progressed, I had everything I could possibly want and gave everything I had. Yummy.