Our Cape Cod event for the SIMPLICITY consortium closed without any problems thanks to the powerful support of Heather Pierce. Heather was my former assistant that left for motherhood, but came back to temporarily pinch-hit for an event that would surely have not happened without her help.
Upon arriving to the hotel site on Sunday, I tended to several early international guests, as well staff members that had come to help get the event set up. When I checked in to the hotel, I must admit that I was somewhat puzzled when I realized that my room faced the parking lot dumpster. The vanity inside spoke to me, "I'm running ragged to run this ocean side event, and I'm not even looking at the ocean?" I got over my own ego quickly, and the evening went wonderfully.
The following day I was overhearing how Heather had put herself and I into an undesirable room, knowing that I would want to save the best rooms for all of the guests and staff that helped. I related this story at the end of the meeting as it reminded me of something I remembered from my childhood.
My father was a cook, and loved to have visitors come over and eat heartily. One time I saw him preparing a beautiful Japanese kaiseki (multi-course) dinner and was puzzled as to why he used the best parts of the fish for the visitors, and ate the least desirable parts by himself. I reasoned that since he had cooked for so long, he would know the taste of everything better than anyone, so only he could fully enjoy the taste of something that was truly excellent. I asked this question, and he didn't quite understand my point.
Today I postulate that perhaps once you've tasted all the wonderful things in the world, you realize that there's nothing more you need to taste. Could it be that after a certain point, you realize that sharing the incredible experiences you have already had yourself with others, can be more satisfying than tasting them yet again yourself? It is much easier to take than to give, most certainly. I wonder for those that seek the highests challenges in life, that there may be no greater challenge than to have the consistent capacity to share?
As a start, I share the lesson I re-learned today from the good hearted Mrs. Pierce. It turns out that Heather was only following instructions from me that I gave her from two years ago. Always remember the purer voice of your younger self when you can.
Posted by maeda at March 28, 2006 04:38 PM