When I was 9 years old I subscribed to a “pilot magazine”. Convinced I would get my license someday, I hung a poster of all the instruments in the cockpit on my bedroom wall. Every morning and night, I would get a head start on memorizing each button and gadget. The idea of flying anywhere, anytime I wanted, enchanted me, and fueled my imagination.
Hence the reason, Peter Pan is, hands down, my favorite Disney movie.
Over the course of my 26 years, I have lost track of the hundreds of flights I have been on all over the world. But, I still get goosebumps every time I walk in an airport, and my heart races with excitement. I have never really been able to put a finger on exactly why, but recently I think I came close to figuring it out…
The second the magical doors slide open and my foot hits the marble, all my worries just disappear. I am prone to performance in all areas of my life, except for when I am either at the ranch, in the wilderness, or traveling.
For me, just the idea of flight is a Narnian Wardrobe, an entrance and escape to any place in the world beyond my tiny, little world. Something happens to me when I walk through the security line; it’s as though my brain turns on the “conserve battery” mode, and somewhere, deep down, all the tasks circulating in my head hit pause. I become completely and utterly committed to being in between point A and point B, and free to lock the door to the task master within me – “Do not disturb, I am traveling“.
For me, the airport and airplanes are full of frenzy, but somehow, complete freedom; freedom to sit in the terminal and read a book, people watch, or just stare out the window; freedom to breathe and wait for the next landing; freedom to simply have an excuse for doing nothing at all, because I am doing something…I am in transition, waiting.
However, some days, I choose to engage with someone whom, most likely, I will never, ever see again. The thought is mind-blowing to me!
I sit down next to someone, completely by chance, and encounter someone for the first, and last time. I have one chance to get to know this person, and one chance for them to know me (unless, perhaps, you are my old boss, whom I just happened to work for after sitting next to him on an airplane).
Needless to say, it by no surprise painting live at weddings has allowed me to spend so much time in airports, and on airplanes. It is a dream come true, and never gets old. The business cards stack up from all the new faces I meet, and I am constantly in transition, learning to appreciate the places we go.
You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So… get on your way!
-Dr. Suess
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