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| actual picture taken at take-off |
Take-off is one of my favorite times to be on an airplane. For at least 10 minutes every passenger on the plane is forced to be disconnected from everyone else in the world. I always enjoy watching others and how they deal with this time of unfamiliar silence as we take into the sky: some read, some sleep for a brief moment, some clinch the arm rest of their seats as their fear of the wheels leaving the ground rushes back to them as they are no longer undistracted by things from the rest of the world. Some people say the alone time that allows them think best in in the shower, some in the car on the way to work, for me its during the airplane take-off when I am forced to separate from the outside world and mentally process and everything that has happened over the past couple of days, week, or even months; helping me to prepare for the next steps of action I need to take to when I step off the plane.
As we were taking off this blog post was inspired by a collaboration of conversations, ideas, and inspiring words I have encountered over the past couple of weeks. I was one of the readers, glad to finally have an couple hours to sit down and try to finish the book I've been reading over the past month. The book The Corner Office by Adam Bryant might take the prize for being my longest drawn out read, simply for the fact that it is so great and as I finish each chapter I find my self reading it again, just to make certain I haven't missed any valuable words of wisdom from the highly respected business leaders whose personal success stories and words of advice make up most of the book.
I was reading a section on Writing in the chapter titled "Smart Interviewing". In the third paragraph, Nell Minow of The Corporate Library explains what he gathers from writing samples he request from job candidates "Do they have a sense of curiosity about the world? Are they just repeating things they've read, or is there some sense of engagement with it? And their ability to express themselves, I think, is tremendously important...". The section went on to discuss the importance in knowing how well a candidate can discuss ideas and effectively get opinions/suggestions across through written communication. This is when my thought collaboration was sparked (unfortunately not on an airplane napkin) and I began connecting the dots to previous weeks conversations and To Do List's...
"Plane" of thought timeline:
3 weeks ago: Seemingly very inspiring (semi-overwhelming) conversation I had with my a mentor: I needed to get back into blogging. Through my move, job transition, and adaptation to a new much faster paced life my blog had become a stagnit webpage. The importance: to clearly identify for myself and share with others my thoughts, ideas, and the details of my own journey that has allowed me to develop a unmistakable passion for digital, social, and mobile media.
2 weeks ago: Phone call from a college friend (who has only recently become one of my dearest friends... through our mutual passion for the above mentioned) and a voicemail I wont forget. "I need to know how you did it. How did you leave everything you have ever known and move to a city to where you knew no one?" Which led to a conversation only enforcing the fact that I was doing what I loved, and where I need to be.
1 week ago: A gChat conversation discussing life of an entrepreneur in the digital space, (which I copy pasted and saved for that blog post I needed to get to...): "Yes, I mean its hard to pack your bags and go from working with 1,000 people everyday to 5! Anyone looking at it as just a change in jobs or even career isn't ready, I'm not sure if I totally was, it becomes a complete change in your lifestyle. Luckily I love it, but I basically eat, drink, and get very little sleep because of it."...."And, I guess thats what helps me know its what I am supposed to be doing, because I am so passionate about it. Its hard to sit and try to rationalize out, because working for a start up doesn't really fit into any "career plan" we learned in business school. Lots of grey areas, thats what makes it exciting and makes me want it even more."
3 days ago: On my way home for a short weekend and my first visit since moving away 3 months ago, on the plane again, reading The Corner Office, "Leave home," said Andrew Cosslett of InterContinental Hotels Group. "Go as far away as possible from what you know. I think you've got to be tested, and you've got to test yourself. So my best career advice would be life advice. Go and find out who you are and what you can deal with and put yourself in some positions that will be distinctly uncomfortable. Forcing yourself out of your comfort zone is a great lesson in life."
Tonight: I sat on a plane reality hit that that was only a vacation, I am leaving my hometown to return back to a new life. Feeling a sense of accomplishment because I did "Leave home", realizing that an unfamiliar test of my own curiosity has led me to amazing and inspiring people who I have positioned me to learn and grow, hoping that through sharing my experiences I will enable others with the encouragement they need to do the same, knowing that by going outside of my comfort zone I have discovered a passion for my work and through my work I understand the power of a digital-social voice, and vowing to begin, again, expressing all of this and so much more through blogging. 