An Expert At Unimportant Things
Take pride in the things that can’t be quantified, monetized, and supervised. These are the things that get you through the heavy seasons of life that we all eventually go through.
Some time ago I was invited to participate in a speaking tour across several cities throughout China. On that trip I had the privilege of speaking at the famous Peking University in the capital of Beijing.
I’ll never forget on the evening of that event our host performed a private tea ceremony. During the ritual there was plenty of conversation, though at much slower pace than what I’m usually accustomed to. I remember our host telling us about his own special interests in tea and rock and roll. In a mildly self-effacing posture, though with a smile, he said, “I am an expert at all things unimportant.”
This of course was an understatement. One of my translators informed me that the tea he was serving was from the tea company he personally owned.
And as a side note, you should be aware that anyone with a combined interest in social issues and rock and roll can easily gush for hours about the ways popular music represents, challenges, and transforms culture throughout different eras.
What stands out about that evening is what I like to refer to as the slow moment. A slice of time when we allow ourselves to explore and share sensory delights, interesting ideas, and new experiences without feeling rushed or pressured to perform.
Too many times, we are caught in the pendulum swing of workaholic-mode followed by indulgence-recovery-mode. A true slow moment exists outside that binary. A slow moment is something that our brain encodes like a multi-dimensional, multi-sensory photograph, allowing us to carry the memory with us wherever we go and tune into its lingering emotional echoes whenever we need.
Since that moment I always encourage my clients to become “an expert at unimportant things” and to build a radar system to help find the elusive slow moment.
So how do we build such a radar?
It’s simple.
Take pride in the things that can’t be quantified, monetized, and supervised. These are the things that get you through the heavy seasons of life that we all eventually go through.
-Austin