Step Away from the Computer
The computer is, unfortunately, my comfort zone. As soon as I get away, my mind works differently.
It all looks scattered from this angle.
I had a Power Lunch (or post-lunch drink, really) with people I don’t really know talking about work I don’t usually do (naming). I step away from my comfort zone and … it was worth the venture.
Away from what you know, outside of your regular sphere, off your normal path. It’s a novel idea … ha, that was a little joke. A novel idea to do something … novel. My mind was expanded, it wasn’t the usual banter on topics I’m used to with people I know. I said yes to oysters. I can probably count on one finger how many oysters I’ve had in my life (that was a little math joke to see if the 8-year olds in the audience are paying attention). They weren’t bad! They weren’t necessarily good either, but they weren’t what I think they are going to be: a gooey blob of flesh from the ocean that tastes like it sat in a stagnant pool of water long enough to grow mold.
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
I wasn’t sure about the meeting. I didn’t know quite how it would go. It wasn’t clear if it was the beginning of a project or just some drinks with friends. I gauged as it went along. At one point, I felt as if I had to step in and guide the conversation if it was going to be fruitful at all. Glad I did. We turned it into something to work with. My main contact started taking notes because, as he said, he didn’t want to miss anything I said. Now we’re cooking with gas.
The time flew by and I would soon even be too late to pick up my son. But this was something I never do (drinks in the afternoon at a trendy restaurant in the city). This is what I’m supposed to be doing. Isn’t it? Yes, why not. If I were doing what I were supposed to be doing where would the adventure be? The change? The possibility?
This was after a morning meeting with someone I’d met only once but feel like we’ve know each other for years. As if old friends, but we barely know each other first names.
A ginger lemon cocktail at 2 PM didn’t hurt the afternoon, either. It added a little flavor to the discussion. A glass of white wine was appropriate as well because it was unseasonably warm out. Then the oysters. I’m pretty confident that I have never had such an afternoon meeting–and might not again. Good, let’s chalk that up as experience.
