Seek And Ye Shall Find
I am a big fan of newspapers. Sure, I know you can read stuff on the Internet (like this fantastic blog for example!), and I do. Maybe it's the college Journalism major in me, but there's nothing like holding a newspaper in your hands and feeling the inexpensive paper suck the moisture out of your fingers (perfect excuse to buy some lotion made by members of the Handmade Beauty Network!) and slightly stain them with the news of the day. I read about 4 newspapers every other day. No, I don't have the time, but I find the time because the benefits are substantial. We should all know some details about the news of the day so we can put our world into context. And one can't possibly grow a business without also understandig the world in which that business will either live or die.
So this morning, I was having a cuppa Joe at a local coffee shop and reading the paper. I later discovered that an 83-year old gentleman named Sy Mohr had been carefully watching me. No, it wasn't anything creepy.
The old man called out from the next table and told me he had noticed that I had actually opened and read every page of the paper. I looked at his table, which like mine was strewn with newspaper pages, and I was intrigued. What he said to me next was impactful.
"Readers are searchers, and when you search, you always find what you are looking for."
We went on to have as long a conversation as I could fit into my morning. Turns out, he's a celebrated artist whose paintings have appeared in galleries throughout the east coast and even parts of the world including Spain and Rwanda. I never thought I'd meet an artist of such caliber in my own back yard. We live just a few miles from each other and he invited me and my family over to see his in-home gallery and for our first painting lesson from a Master. I am excited about getting to know someone who continues to pursue his passion at the age of 83, and even after a debilitating stroke in 1989 left him barely able to read or speak (he has since nearly fully recovered) and the devastating loss of his dear wife of 50 years in 2003.
As we journey through life, we don't always know exactly what we are looking for, but if we remain in constant "search" mode, with our radars extended to detect the next speck of knowledge or the new bit of opportunity just around the bend, we will find not only what we are looking for but also what we need.
I needed to meet Sy today, to be inspired by another human being so full of the excitement, grace, joy and passion that the challenges of life could have easily stolen from him. Thanks Sy for a great lesson today.
You can enjoy Sy's paintings at his website.
