“We’re almost there, Dave. Now put on that blindfold.”
Calm down, folks. This is not that kind of story. But there is something about blindfolds. In spy movies, our hero always needs to wear a blindfold before meeting the kingpin in his hidden lair. Blindfolds ensure that secret places remain secret. They also increase the challenge level. We blindfold kids before they can play “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” or before they can smash a pinata so that they can tap into their internal compass. It’s like when Luke Skywalker dons a blackout helmet during his Jedi training. As you can’t see your opponent, you now have to “Trust the Force” – “Trust your Intuition.”
And so I find myself blindfolded as we near the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It’s my friend, Kate’s, idea.
“Dave, this is the best way to see the canyon for first time!”
The blindfold firmly attached over my eyes, I’m walked from the car about 10 minutes to the rim of the canyon.
“Okay, Dave. Now take off your blindfold!”
I remove the cloth and there it is at my feet, one of the biggest, grandest holes in the world, laid out before me like a magnificent banquet. Needless to say, I feel a little vertigo. The canyon is SO vast, So wide, So deep. The colors are So vibrant. If you’ve never been to the Grand Canyon before, like I haven’t, you just can’t imagine such a place existing in the world. What was Mother Nature thinking! I simultaneously feel very small, and at the same time, I feel as large as the entire universe.
The blindfold is the right way to go. It’s like jumping into the pool from the deep end. No slow transition, no gradual adaptation. It’s just – boom. You’re in it up to your eyeballs, transported from one world to the next. A glorious WOW to the system.
(As in life, sometimes the build up is just as important as the arrival. In other words, how you get somewhere can be as crucial as the somewhere itself. What’s your next destination, your next big event, your next bucket-list challenge? How can you playfully amp up the experience for greater impact and significance? How can you make the journey as rich as the destination?)