A Letter From Our Chief Creative Officer: That Last Time
A friend once told me I’d carry my son on my shoulders for the last time one day and I wouldn’t know it. I think about this a lot and recently, in turn, I was relaying it to a close friend because I think it’s quite profound. As it turns out, it was many years ago that my son was on my shoulders, and I didn’t know it was the last time. Perhaps it’s not advice, per se, but it is worthy of deep contemplation and can be extended to all our experiences, we’ll do everything for one last time at some point in our finite ricochet with the world as we know it.
How best to apply this to our busy lives, filled with obligations and responsibilities? Through good fortune and hard work, we’ve likely afforded ourselves some flexibility in our paths and the choices we make, so I started there. I found myself contentedly in a holding pattern that was shocked into relief by reflection such as the above. If something might be the last time, ought it not be the best it can be? The best experience? And even if not, reach for it…reach for the defining experience every time and you can only be satisfied that you tried.
But I don’t want you to think these need to be grandiose efforts. No, they can be small but profoundly impactful on your life. For example, I was in Paris recently on business and I thought, “What if it was the last time?” What would I do? For one, I decided to walk everywhere. For almost all the arranged transfers I walked instead. It was usually only 30 to 40 minutes, but instead of doing anything else I chose to walk and it was great. Often similar routes, but with each pass, at varying times of day, they were different experiences whereas the van rides would have been the same, because my head would have been buried in my phone.
I spent the most time I’ve spent in my life at galleries, desperately trying to slow down to the pace of being an art admirer. I looked at people just sitting or standing immobile, concentrating on Picasso or Degas with admiration, appreciation, and awe. They appeared to be fulfilled through this transfer, an osmosis of sorts.
But rather than satisfied I came away inspired, and motivated. Motivated to see more, experience more, and meet more new people. People who share my values and inspire me, and it’s people I’ve come to see as critical to growth and happiness. And like carrying a little boy on your shoulders, people can come and go from your life, whether expected or not, that last time can leave an everlasting impression that will inform your future. So, the big takeaway is this: walk, do more, meet more people, and indulge in more experiences, and may the last of each be the best you’ve ever had.
PHOTO BY MATT BARNES.
