What is your favorite movie?
Midnight in Paris is a favorite movie of mine. So is The Moderns. On my mom’s 80th birthday trip to Paris, I snuck out of the hotel early in the morning for outings to Les Deux Magots, the café where Sartre and Camus hung out, and Café de la Rotonde, where Picasso and Modigliani paid for coffee with drawings if they didn’t have the cash.
What I love is the fantasy around a group of intellectuals convening and creating and exploring ideas to understand the world.
Would you recognize your fantasy if it was right in front of you?
Thankfully, I realized before I left that I think I’m living this fantasy next week. I’m presenting at the SIETAR Europa Congress in Malta. That’s the Society of Intercultural Educators, Trainers and Researchers.
This year’s theme is Re-Thinking Interculturalism. I’m co-presenting with Elmer Dixon, on Shifting the Paradigm – Why a Comprehensive Strategy is Critical in Shifting Corporate Cultures.
There’s a group of us staying together, including Elmer who is a Global Diversity, Equity and inclusion leader, and a long-time freedom fighter who marched with Dr. King as a child. Also in the group is George Simons, creator of the diversophy® intercultural training game, author and international trainer. This is an opportunity to talk with the TOP LEADERS in the field about one of my favorite topics: Cultural exchange and Intercultural connection.
While I was busy wondering if I was good enough to be there, I almost missed that I’m already in!
What fantasy would you create if it wasn’t right in front of you?
Is it presenting at an industry conference? Landing a “reach” client? Seeing if you could pull together ten friends to celebrate a milestone birthday? You create by envisioning.
What I also find true and fascinating, is that sometimes just by envisioning you draw things to you. Your job here is to keep your eyes open to recognize when what you’ve been looking for is right in front of you.