My coffee mug has a Marcel Proust quote on it…
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.
It reminds me of Tom Kelley’s great advice in his talk on how to be an innovator for life, that one should ‘think like a traveller’. When you travel, particularly to other countries, you look at things differently. You pay attention to all the little details because they all seem new and different – the currency, the shoes people wear, the signage on the shop fronts, the smell of the public transport, the process for ordering at the local restaurant.
This got me thinking about my facilitation practice… As I facilitate more workshops and produce more events, the experience brings a number of benefits – confidence, insight, knowledge of process, ability to anticipate issues etc. But I also wonder what I might be missing with the greater familiarity? Are there details I’m overlooking, or feelings/experiences that I’m not open to because I’m not viewing them with new eyes?
I’ll now use this mug as my reminder to occasionally flip into ‘traveller’ mode and really soak up the experience as if it was a first.
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