Like many girls of my generation, I didn’t spend much time with my father as I was growing up. Consequently, every interaction we did have was magnified and many “single frame” memories stand out. When I turned 12, he gave me a beautiful and thoughtful birthday card, which he graced with his own, distinct handwriting, copying these words:
Look to this day:
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence.
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of achievement
Are but experiences of time.
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision;
And today well-lived, makes
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day;
Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn!
Kalidasa, Indian Sanskrit Playwright and Poet, Hindu Philosopher, 4 – 5th century A.D.
I’ve carried this card with me throughout my life, along with another similar card he gave me upon graduation from college with a quote often attributed to Goethe,
“Whatever you dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”
My awareness of the depth of meaning contained in both verses, of course, increased with the awareness, experiences and wisdom that came as time passed.
Our lives are made up of beginnings. Moments, mornings, Mondays, New Years, first love, first kiss, first job, beginning again after breakups, births, deaths, etc. It is inevitable that we will experience “firsts” again and again throughout our lives.
The French writer, Nicolas Chamfort, observed, “Man arrives a novice at every age of life." If we are continually expanding, growing and experiencing new things purposefully, those firsts come more frequently.
Dates become more memorable, the more of them we have, as they attach themselves to significant milestones in our lives. November 6, 2022, marks such a new beginning for me. It is simultaneously an ending and a beginning, pulling everything from my past into a neat bow of completion, wherein I can share the best of everything I know and serve more people than I have been able to before. Today, I can see why so many seemingly random things happened in my life when they did.
When I finally left my marriage, 8 years ago, I knew only that I was determined to open up my life to greater possibilities. When we are motivated to grow through the pain of something we can no longer tolerate, we often move forward awkwardly, with the weight of negative emotion still dragging on us. My movement forward was powered by will and determination, but it felt like a constant two step forward, one step slipping back scenario. Eventually, the successes became greater and the slipping back occurred less often and with less pain. The drive to expand, to serve others in their own journeys and to do it all with joy, continued to drive me more and more emphatically and I experienced so many positive synchronicities that it was sometimes overwhelming. My life opened up in ways I never could have imagined and I experienced 100s of “firsts” within a very short time. I repeat that, if we are continually expanding, growing and experiencing new things purposefully, those firsts come more frequently.
This momentum has culminated into an avalanche of opportunity to serve on so many levels that I stand in awe of what I now so clearly see is possible. Today I celebrate a greater expansion into a journey that began many years ago and comes full circle, joining every aspect of who and what I am.
Oddly, in the background, year 12 of my life rings clearly as a significant place in time when many parts of myself were necessarily shut down, turned off and hidden away. It’s incredibly freeing to understand that we have the ability to recognize patterns in our lives, let them go and exert agency over our circumstances.
At first glance, these childhood memories seem unconnected, but our inner conversations inform what and how we share with others and these parts of ourselves that are oftentimes necessarily dismissed, play a significant role in the possibilities our futures hold.
The chronicles of my twelfth year included casting my love of musicals and poetry into a secret space within my mind, where I would allow it to expand only in clandestine meetings, until my college days permitted an open confession of appreciation.
It was the November day that I turned 12, that I met Rilke. The sparkling waterfall of words he offered, bathed my universe with hope, beauty and soulful possibility. I dropped the previous obsession I had with musicals like a rung on a ladder and reached higher, clinging to Rilke, Blake,Yeats and eventually hundreds more. Only now do I understand why I’ve carried this poem with me all of these years. Like music, the beauty of poetry is that, in spite of various recorded interpretations, we instinctively resonate with a specific piece. Initially, we lay meaning over whatever first feeds us and as we grow, we each become a catalyst of expansion for the other.
One of these circles for me, is connecting with people and connecting them with the greater possibilities that exist in their own lives. Like many of us, most of what I do centers around conversations. The trifecta of powerful motivators in my life and work have been: an insatiable curiosity about what allows people to accomplish the things they want, a deep need for connection, and an incessant drive to create things.
These innate drivers have led to hundreds of interviews of every nature, casual conversations and random surveys in a wide variety of sectors. I’ve interviewed children, parents, men, women, business people, rich, poor, etc. on topics from babies, parenting and homeschooling, to scaling businesses. Whether I was working in small business, marketing, hospitality, fitness, entertainment, coaching, teaching, events or running a restaurant, conversations were always the core of everything and this is where I have learned the most about everyone’s innate curiosity, need for accomplishment and longing for connection.
This obsession has developed into a unique opportunity to serve in the 3 distinct areas where what I have to share can make the most positive impact: The Coaching Industry, Midlife Women and Outdoor Hospitality. Though they may initially appear to be unconnected, here’s a peek into what each is about and why I have an intense sense of urgency to support and serve within each one.
So back to beginnings and coming full circle, let me begin with the end of these ever widening circles. Hospitality is the expression of something we are at our core as humans. It is kindness, consideration, generosity. It flows out organically from our own connection with a state of abundance, possibility and hope. It recognizes commonalities, embraces inclusion and dissolves division. It provides comfort beyond the level of apparent need. It is the sharing the consciousness of home in its best sense. It connects through and heart centered communication. It transforms attitudes and lives. It teaches values. It expands perception. It uplifts everyone, collectively. Because we can do more, we must do more and that is where Experiential Hospitality enters.
HOSPITALITY!
Today is the birth of a new company and the platform that will serve as the social voice of connection, Expitality and TALKABOUT TV.
The mission of Expitality, via our Talkabout TV platform, is to create a collaborative community where the best of Experiential Hospitality comes together. Business owners have an opportunity to engage in intimate discussion, in their own words, about why they do what they do. Expitality is a platform for guests and owners alike, to share their personal journeys of self-transformation and discovery, as they explore and experience the best of Hospitality and community.
As the world literally steps outside the box of traditional hospitality to consciously integrate outdoor spaces and experiences, we are expanding even further to actively engage the heart, mind, body and spirit of every guest, every time.
TALKABOUT TV is about the journey of conversation. Transparent conversations with real people that will transport you into the lives of travelers. You can learn more about this here:
We value Honesty - Agency - Empathy - Truth - Transparency - Accountability - Integrity - Empowerment
Because times like these, call for clarity through connection in every area of life. What do you want to talk about? What do you want to experience?