“People are interesting if you choose to be interested” is an adage I hold to be true and one I love to live by.
Am writing this daily post a little later in the day than usual this Saturday, having gone for a great bike ride (and yes, it was a bit tough to get out on the road now it is 4 degrees celsius!). After the ride, I took a shower, wandered the local annual Christmas market, and then went into our great local independent cafe to treat myself to their coffee and scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on sourdough. Yum.
The cafe was packed so the only seats were stools at the front counter. Shortly after I sat down someone came in and sat next to me, complete with their folding electric bike. As a fellow cyclist, this was enough for us to strike up a conversation, one that turned into an hour or so of a really engaging and wide-ranging discussion, through which we discovered both commonalities and differences.
So, here I am back at my desk writing and inspired and engaged by meeting someone interesting over a leisurely cafe lunch.
As I write, my mind goes to the late, great Anthony Bourdain, who always believed in the power of “breaking bread” of sitting down to eat with someone as a way to catalyse open conversation. I’ve written about him several times, including “Be Open“, a post where I also shared the image above. Words to live by.
Oh, and the other day someone asked me what lessons I have learned from having had more than 100 podcasts, each with a guest for around half an hour simply talking about whatever is on their mind (all episodes on WhatComesNext.Live and/or find on your favourite podcast platform)
I have been a little lax in lining up guests for future episodes, so, if you first listen to one or two shows and then feel you would like to have a conversation with me before or after the end of the year, there is space in the show calendar and I’d love to hear from you, as would the podcast audience 🙂
Meanwhile, my guest on Tuesday 6th at 5 pm UK is Tessa Murray, Director of Tortoise Media, and we will be doing this live show from the Tortoise offices. Feel free to join us live on YouTube or catch up later on the podcast.