It's Today!

I am going to the Out Professionals B2B Networking event at The Center in NYC tonight. This combines several of my favorite things.

First, I get to take the train into Penn Station. I love tapping in to the energy there and when I emerge from below Madison Square Garden, I really feel like Midtown is at my feet. I head up-, cross- or down-town as my will, appointments and feet take me, and this brings me to my second point.

Second, I LOVE walking in Manhattan! The "long" blocks east/west give less of a sense of progress than the "short" blocks north/south, but I can pass a multitude of neighborhoods - no - WORLDS - as I traverse the city on foot. Lately I've been permitting myself a lot of extra time so I can enjoy walking past Parsons School of Design, for instance, and wonder what people are doing and thinking and feeling. What great works or ideas will be generated today?

Third, I get so much positive energy from meeting new people! Tonight I get to meet Joe Renga, with whom I will volunteer to help run the meeting. I will also get to meet 30 or more new friends and who knows what value and great things we will bring to each other's lives. Meeting new people encourages me to view the world through their eyes and that often reveals insights I would not have found on my own.

Finally, the only way to grow, to stretch, to keep one's edge is to get out in the world. If you sit in a room, it's hard to find new ways of seeing, new ways of being smart, funny, pensive, intellectual. We all need other people to expand our horizons. And that is what will keep my brain young.