On March 14th, Stephen Hawking died.
This wonderful quote reminds us to look up at the stars and to be curious.
He also encourages us to “make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exists”. Indeed, it would seem that this was what drove Hawking to stay with us as long as he did, despite facing such amazing physical adversity.
However, sometimes I wonder if we seek to find answers too much and sometime lose touch with our ability to be present to the moments ?
I write on this site about leadership, and so much of that is about being truly present.
I often tell people that I no longer believe in coincidence, I believe in flow.
So, let me pull all of this together. On March 14th I found myself invited to a special dinner at the Tower of London, which finished with experiencing the “ceremony of the keys”, which has taken place every night, without fail, since 1280AD.
It was a beautiful late winter evening, crisp air and not too cold.
Before the ceremony I had been talking to another guest, who, like me, had a lot of history in the tourism industry. This particular evening was about heritage and we both revelled in the moment, soaking it all up.
As the evening then finished, we were both heading in the same direction to a tube station, and I mentioned that on that morning I had seen a photo on social media taken at a tube station with a quote from Stephen Hawking, who had died that morning. We both noted how wonderful it is that tube staff are trusted and empowered to express themselves this way, and I noted that I’d written about this recently (see : “A Trust Story : The Journey is the Destination“).
A few minutes later, we waked into the Tower Hill tube station, and what did we see before us ? The sign that the picture above had been taken of.
#Flow, not coincidence.
Oh, and 14th March is not only “Pi Day” (3.14), but also Einstein’s Birthday.
Be curious.. AND take time to look up at the stars, be present, take joy in the moments and in being in #Flow.