November is a TV sweeps month and the month we all reflect to give thanks (for better programming :) As we at LSNY continue to have the privilege and joy to celebrate with our families and corporate clients I am reminded of a few simple joys: How wonderful it is to join in appreciation with other people in a way that is not forced. How satisfying it is to connect to someone or many some ones at a very basic level of a knowing shared smile. The recognition that what is before us is so worth enjoying, savoring at the deepest and grandest levels.
When I’m at home, I’m a father and husband doing multiple things, cooking dinner, playing with my child, finding the balance between wanting to give my all to my clients and savor my family. I’m not always energized like I am at the events. But every once in a while, I realize that I can raise myself up to those celebratory places, not just at parties, social gatherings or bars and ballparks. We can revel in our every day life as well.
When the market collapsed last month I read about it at the end of the day in my office, at the exact moment, my joyful frizzy headed 2 year old daughter had come in took my hand and asked to dance. I was blown away by the news, but all I really could do was share a dance with my daughter.
We turned the music up and we danced with abandon. The more we danced the less it all mattered. In a way that's saying what I have before me is what IS truly happening, and what is going on out there will go on with or without me.
I'm continually heartened and humbled by my clients’ embraces, emotional thanks, and letters. The feeling is that we shared something more fulfilling than what they had imagined it would be. But it's quite simple really. Just like my daughter asking me to dance in joy is a far greater thing than contemplating the woeful economy, which I have little to do with... so is the client’s day or night so much greater than anything happening out there.
We just devote ourselves to bringing celebration to life as IS. Our lives intertwine and so we share the same energy, like my daughter and I. My daughter's joy moved my energy to joy and I let my concerns and worries go. And so it is with your events.
We at LSNY want to make sure the event is genuinely appreciated with compassion and joy. I appreciate everything in my life that allows me to be there and do just that.
That's what celebrations are about. Piercing through all the things hovering around that pulls away from what is right before us - to find what matters in that moment: Our connection to being here. And when we do that we gain the essence of what we all are: Alive. And that is worth celebrating.
Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!
Michael
