Create from everything

Another snap from this weekend’s visit to Golden Gate Park

Last year, I dedicated ten months to a leadership program that changed the way I saw a lot of things. One of the biggest ideas in the program was that it’s possible to create from everything. Silence: what’s going unsaid? Chaos: tons of material! What are a few of the threads, and what happens when you braid them together? Disappointment means clarity on what really matters, and the chance to connect with others from an honest, bummed place, and create something new together from there.

“Create from everything” rang through my head today as I bopped from conversation to conversation at the office, realizing how much needed to be done. People would share observations with me about the project I’m leading, and I’d realize they were right, and that something needed to be done about it. My old perspective would have been: shoot! I should have thought of that. I can’t believe how behind I am. My perspective today was, oh! I must be hearing about this because it’s time to do something about it. I’m glad people are bringing it to me, because the fact that they’re bringing it to me means they trust me to do something about it.

What felt clear today is that my job is to create from everything, not to make sure nothing ever goes wrong. I make the biggest difference when I face the truth and do something about it. It’s impossible and impractical to always be ahead of the curve, but it’s possible to tackle each new wave of reality as it arrives.

Even though I know this and believe it, I don’t always feel it in my bones. But today, I did.