Today a story about the power of beautiful moments, such as the one in the photo
Earlier this week, as I wrote about here, I took time out to go to the country, to slow down, and simply to walk with a friend and walk his dog.
Prior to that day, I’d been feeling a bit frustrated with how slowly some things seemed to be moving in life and work. However, in the few days since taking time to walk the dog, the act of slowing down has had a powerful impact. It feels to me that the world has caught up with me, things have started to move ahead.
Or, perhaps, I’ve just slowed down enough to be more present…
So, a couple of days after my “dog walk day” I had a first meeting of the afternoon with someone in a coffee shop in yet another new and hidden gem of a street in London. It was a beautiful spot and a beautiful meeting.
Hmm, am using the word “beautiful” a lot as I continue to collaborate with Alan Moore on developing a concept we are calling “Beautiful Leaders and Makers”, anchored from his book “Do/Design – Why beauty is key to everything“.)
Now, at that meeting, the person I met with accepted an invitation to be part of a retreat Alan and I are hosting in mid-November to get a group together to co-create something. As they entered the dates in the calendar on their phone they said;”I’m booking in these “beautiful days”. Very cool!
Folllowing that, I knew I had plenty of time to get to my next meeting, an event at a venue on Portobello Road in Notting Hill. I put in my headphones to listen to a lively playlist, tapping my feet and fingers as I rode the rube to Notting Hill Gate. I then strolled down side streets, enjoying perfect early Autumn weather, and gazing up at the bright blue sky, with aircraft chemtrails making criss-cross patterns.
I then turned the corner to one of my favourite views in London. The top of the small hill that marks the start of the Portobello Road market. This was not a market day, though, and it was surreally peaceful in that moment.
The photo above is from that moment.
The power of that beautiful moment? I then walked down the hill a few hundred yards to the event venue, where I was the first to arrive. I bought a nice cool pint of draft beer and sat at an outside table to watch the world go by. The next person to arrive looked almost dazed, having dashed in an Uber from an intense multi-day retreat. I was relaxed and present and felt I could read all of that. What did I do? Nothing. I guess the power of having had my own personal beautiful moment was knowing that all there was to do was simply be present and let them “decompress”. I think of diving, where one must take time to come back up to the surface to avoid “the bends”, to literally allow the nitrogen in the air in the body to decompress.
My advice? Life is beautiful, la vita e bella. Be present, allow for beautiful moments and for moments to be beautiful, and you will feel the power of that for yourself and for others.