How One Random Act Expanded My Horizons

What I saw can change the way you see everything

Photo by Danny on Unsplash

Yesterday I decided to do something totally random after lunch.

I walked into a Barnes and Noble bookstore. I picked a number between one and one hundred.

87.

I walked 87 steps across the store, letting the aisles guide my turns.

At step 87, I stood in front of a magazine rack. I reached out and picked up Art and Architecture.

I flipped through the pages until something grabbed my attention. I found it on a page that had a picture of an orange wall with what looked like a crane painted on it.

On that page was printed these words:

“Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.” — John Maedas

I closed the magazine, put it back on the shelf, and walked out into the blazing summer sun.

The Spark

I gave myself 24 hours to think about what I saw.

Lots of things came to mind.

What is obvious? What do you have left when you throw the obvious away? How do you decide what meaning to add?