I love details. I revel in textures and colors. I go looking for the nuances in a story, often missing the story line because of the quest. While there are others like me, most want to start with headlines. When I go off on tangents, friends respond with blunt requests.
“What is the point?”
“What are you trying to tell me?”
“Where are we going with this?”
They have a point. I recognize their frustration. When I am marginally interesting in subject, the core question I struggle with is why I should be interested. Is there a reason outside of courtesy?
Today’s paper highlighted a case where meetings were being held in a room with jamming equipment to prevent any use of mobile phones with email capabilities. Initially it worked. Participants let go of their distractions and focused on the matters at hand. Noninterest soon took over. The article’s photos documented the devices new use for games. Courtesy is not trumping boredom.
If I begin to distill the messages I want to deliver in the workplace, I find that I begin to understand the critical. It is as if I am cooking. The words need to be reduced while retaining the intensity of the flavors. It is a great challenge. In cooking the reduction process is simple yet it is easy to get the results all wrong. Too much heat and one ends up with a burnt taste. No enough and the reduction process does not occur. In case one forgets, not everything can be reduced.
As I extend the approach to others parts of my life, I find there is a simple theme that trumps all else; “For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other.” (1 John 3.11)
Life is complex, yet our response to live is simple. It can be shaped by a single key – love. Compassion, empathy, and community flow from love. It is a perspective that is easy to forget in the context of life’s chaos. Today I will remember with the intent of embracing the key.
