Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco @TheValoress
I spent Memorial Day weekend in San Francisco. It was my first time there and the only time I’ve traveled to a place without any prior research or preparation whatsoever. My unpreparedness had stressed me out somewhat, but thankfully my close friend in SF served as the best tour guide and host one could ever ask for.
The entire time I was there, I just went with the flow of things – I drove to places near and far, snacked on take out dim sum and other delicious cheap foods that didn’t require sitting down or reservations, randomly met up with friends and had a kickass time. Despite not having planned any part of the trip, I ended up checking out all the best parts of SF, and even Stanford, Facebook, and Salsalido. After the weekend was over, I realized I had not relinquished control over my life like this for a really long time.
A part of me was overwhelmed by the experience because it showed me a side of life that asked me to be busy but not intentionally so. It felt like an extra inch of breathing space for me, and in that space, I found clarity and inspiration, a blurry and shifting sense of calm and harmony that felt like purpose. It stirred my imagination and made me feel extraordinarily alive, and as a result I felt more creative than I’ve been since before I moved to New York.
These moments where something deep inside of you stirs suddenly are always worthwhile to note. These moments are never about concrete goals, nor are they about fulfilling needs. Rather they’re really to there to raise awareness for how you can live more authentically.
Those who are also addicted to traveling understand these irreplaceable moments of clarity that come with the experience. A sense of calling, not of how life MUST be but how life CAN be. You begin to realize that all the boundaries and structures you impose on your own life day after day are in fact merely figments of your own imagination, that they are sometimes sufficient but not necessary.
Recently over coffee, a friend told me that in planning out one’s career, most people tend to believe that in order to continuously add value, we must narrow down over time- narrow down knowledge, narrow down expertise, narrow down skill sets- but this process necessitates our sacrifice of an inherent balance of capabilities and competencies that is core to extraordinary leadership (and extraordinary success). I thought about this a great deal and I think there is a fundamental difference between narrowing down your focus, and narrowing down your skill set. Having a specific set of skills is incredibly important, but at the same time, he’s also right – your focus cannot stay at the level of your skill set. Instead you must continuously broaden it, look to adjacent areas for inspiration and connections, and see the forest for the trees.
For me, the same goes for life choices not career-related. Seek to be large and expand. Look for those stirring moments.
Love,
V.
Valoress 