In my daily quest to live life with zest, I have no doubt, a HUGE part of that zest comes from learning. Opening my mind and applying myself to do a little homework after each experience to connect on every potential level with whatever it may be that peaked my curiosity. This is why, many times through out many days, I say to myself “Every day is a school day!”
(I took that expression from my very first dance agent in the business, he used it every time something went off the rails & would find a very adult way to mention how we learned something from the miffed experience. After every battle the call would end with: “Lisa, what did we learn today?” I would reluctantly say “what?” he would say with glee “Well Lisa, again we learned that every day is a school day!” There was a time this same expression grinded me, but many years later, at the age he was when he used to say this to me, here I am, in the exact same mindset!)
One of the things I think we all do when we have guests, is get out more. I don’t know about you, but I keep a running list of things I really want to do the next chance I have to take a day adventure with a friend, in this case I could use my list with my friend visiting over the holiday break. There are so many things to see where we all live, but we live there, so it only has the perfect pop of magic when we are able to share the adventure with someone else.
This trip, I really wanted to take my friend on a day adventure to Melrose Ave in Los Angeles. Fun fact, I walked Melrose like once a week when I first moved to LA from PA. I was enthralled by the mere fact that something I watched on TV (we all remember Melrose Place) was now just a drive away! I loved walking in and out of each shop, people watching and falling into the moment that this was now where I lived!
During the holiday visit, the day arrived that we had mapped out to spend the day walking Melrose Ave. It would be my friends first time and probably my 100th ! Melrose never disappoints. You can see it all, but what they have added, that is so spectacular is a ton of carefully crafted murals. Some of the most incredible street art I have ever seen, and to me, such a brilliant way to capture a moment in time. In a unique place, surrounded by beautiful art. The funny thing was, many people, like us, weren’t shopping, yet we were wandering mural to mural, taking photos and enjoying their epic greatness.
Time to ring the bell, because this is where the class starts. The school day begins. I am pretty fascinated with social media. The good stuff only- the fact that I can walk up to each mural, find a social media address, give them a follow and know that later, I have an entire page from an artist that I can fall into and discover. I always take a close up photo of each social media handle so that this can be my homework. I don’t want to miss out on my day attached to social media, yet I want to build up the little homework list, as something to look forward to, I can gather a back story on the artist, see where I can find more of there work and take the time to post an image of my sheer enjoyment in total awe of the masterpiece they have created.
One of the last pieces we say, was this one. From the moment we approached it, we knew it was more that just a mural. This mural had a message it is attached to a charity and since you know that is so my jam, I put the last mural we visited as my first note in my homework for later.
Photo note: See how I made sure to highlight the Allstate Purple Purse Instagram address with my arm to remind myself NOT to forget to follow!
That evening my first step, was to follow the charity and the artist on Instagram @carolynsuzuki Followed by checking out the site for Allstate Foundation Purple Purse. As soon as I landed on the site & scrolled, like magic, I found this awesome video of the making of the murals. After I had my fun, I dove in deeper to learn about the organization and the efforts going in to the charity. I can’t deny the sports fan in me was in total awe that Serena Williams is featured on the site in a poignant video.
I have existed in a business world with a lot of women, women from all walks of life. I have traveled clubs for so many years, it would be impossible to even formulate an estimate of a number of the amount of women that I have met. There is no doubt this is a cause that I should be talking about with them in my travels. There is also no doubt that starting today, I will make a point to make regular donations to Allstate Foundation Purple Purse.