Between Tuesday and Thursday this week I traveled 2400 miles round trip by plane. I ended up with five plane changes, two one way and three the other. (Okay, they were small planes, but I admit, not quite as small as the one in the picture! And yes, that's me. The one on the right. As if you couldn't tell.)
We're talking five seat mates on this short business trip. Lots of opportunities to engage, make connections, be curious, find out things that might be useful to me as a writer. Right?
But that's not me. I'm reserved by nature. Shy. Self-effacing. Concerned about being a bother. So when I fly, I always have my Kindle and my iPad with me. I read. I play Scrabble. My electronic devices keep me from having to come up with something to say.
The downside is--not coming up with something to say keeps me from life. REAL life. Engaging, making connections, being curious, finding out things that might be useful to me as a writer--not to mention enrich my experience of life immensely.
I put the iPad back and smiled at my seatmate. "Hi. You going home or starting a journey?"
The next forty minutes flew by. Karen was on her way to visit her 92-year-old father in Washington, D.C. before continuing on to Sweden, where she's going to be living for the forseeable future. (I have a 92-year-old mom. Sweden is on my bucket list.)
She started her career as a teacher but couldn't stand being cooped up in a classroom every day. (I started my career as a teacher and currently work for an online school. And I break up my day in front of the computer by going for walks or running errands or visiting my elderly mom because I can't stand to be cooped up, either.)
Twenty years ago she started a business leading wilderness tours in Alaska and that's what she's been doing ever since. She hopes to continue in Greenland and Iceland, closer to her new home. (Alaska and Iceland are on my bucket list, too. And I've been thinking about a writing project that her job would fit right into.)
She wrote a guidebook that is widely used by Alaska river tour guides. (Another writer!) She wrote another that was offered on Alaska Princess Cruises before the company decided they wanted to publish and sell their own guidebooks. (I edited an Alaska Princess Cruise Ship guide last year--the one that's replacing hers, maybe.)
She supplements her income by grading papers for the International Baccalaureate program. (I'm always looking for ways to supplement my income, I have a teaching certificate in English Lit, and this is SO right up my alley. Something to explore.)
I didn't stop there. On another leg of my trip, I talked to an investment banker from Portland who works for the same bank my ex worked for when he started his career. I was pretty sure we wouldn't have anything to talk about (I don't have that much to talk about with my ex)--but he was reading Alice in Wonderland--the original, illustrated by Tenniel--in search of a costume for an Alice-in-Wonderland ball. (We talked about children's books. About my being a children's writer. About parties!) And he bought a house recently (so did I) and landscaped it with the help of a Portland nursery I used to love when I lived there. (My new house is in desperate need of landscape help. Got some ideas.)
The contractor whose company deals with water damage to residential and commercial buildings up and down the West Coast gave me a writing idea. The family traveling back from the father's brother's wedding in San Diego was a study in family dynamics.
And so it went.
I have to admit, I was exhausted by the time I got home last night. For introverts, or as my writing pals Mary Hershey and Robin LaFevers call it, "shrinking violets," putting oneself out there uses a lot of energy. (By the way, if you don't know Mary and Robin's blog, Shrinking Violet Promotions, visit!) But was it worth it? In terms of ideas, enjoyment, enriched life, simply making the world a more pleasant place by finding points of contact with other people?
It was. I'll do it again.
Maybe not every time, but definitely again.
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