Take the detour; don’t forget to look up

In early 2020, just as COVID-19 was about to change the way we connected with our communities, my partner and I spent a day wandering around Salem, Massachusetts – a city close to home that we’d been to many times. On a crisp winter day, as we started to walk our usual route, he said, “let’s go down this street…we never walk this way, and it looks like there’s something interesting up ahead.” That seemingly small suggestion – to break out of our unconscious mental routine – opened us up to a whole new world of inspiration and led to a new professional connection with an amazing human.

Crossing the bridge to El Punto neighborhood, which has sadly been known as the “wrong side of town,” we found a vibrant world that only got brighter and more interesting down each street and alleyway. In just a few blocks, we navigated dozens of breathtaking murals at the Punto Urban Art Museum, an initiative of the North Shore Community Development Corporation led by its then museum director, David Valecillos. I was so inspired by the CDC’s vision to challenge the perception of what affordable housing buildings could look like and reflect the vibrancy of the people who live there. Blown away and wanting the whole world to know about this incredible place, I shared a few photos on Instagram with the caption, “Take the detour; don’t forget to look up.”

By some miracle (or algorithm), David saw and liked my post, so I reached out to him with a hopeful message via Instagram, sharing how taken I was with his work and inviting him to be a guest speaker for a conversation series I hosted at the time. Thankfully, David was as enthusiastic about our connection as I was and had the notorious distinction of being our last in person speaker before COVID-19 shut everything down. And while both of us have moved on from those professional roles, David and I remain connected as colleagues and friends who support each other however we can.

I was reflecting on this start to our connection recently, and realized it’s a great analogy for the incredible collection of professional experiences I’ve had and some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

Professional detours, whether desired or forced, can open you up to a whole new world.

I’ve been fortunate to work in a lot of different fields and do a lot of different things – sometimes of my own volition and sometimes because of economic downturns. My resume might look like a hodge podge of different experiences, but each one of them has allowed me to cultivate new skills and develop relationships with a whole new set of stakeholders. My network of connections is vast and varied, and that’s absolutely the greatest of all the gifts my professional life has bestowed on me.

Break out of your daily routine to find new insights.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day of our lives, especially at work. There are never enough hours in the day, competing priorities, obstacles, and politics to navigate. It can feel impossible to stay afloat, much less give yourself time for reflection and curiosity to discover new things. But breaking out of our daily routine doesn’t have to be huge. It can be as simple as taking a different route (literally or figuratively) to get to your destination. Who knows – you might just bump into a new person who will impact your life in ways you can’t anticipate.

You never know how you’ll cultivate a new connection.

Sometimes the world delivers people to you in strange ways. I don’t spend a lot of time on social media and am still not sure how to fully use Instagram. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone because I had an opening – David liked my post, so I decided to “shoot my shot” to see if we could cultivate a connection beyond a social media transaction. Frequently, we get hung up on the “right way” to do something. Opening yourself up to the world around you – even in small ways – can bring new people and resources into your world.

The only times I’ve ever questioned my detours are when I have forgotten to “look up.” When I’ve stayed so head down and focused, that I haven’t taken those moments to reflect or question what I’m supposed to be learning in that moment. It’s a little like taking stock of your resources – what have you gained from this experience? What can you bring forward? What would you like to leave behind? Sometimes, it’s not until I’ve had the benefit of time and hindsight that I discover what a detour has given me, but I can guarantee that I’ve gotten something valuable from every one of those experiences – good and bad.

Each twist and turn in my career path has not only taught me valuable skills, but helped me clarify my superpowers and contributions to the world. Some might say that taking a detour means you’ll lose focus or shows a lack of discipline. Let’s be clear, sometimes we need to hunker down and choose to stay focused on the requirements in front of us. This isn’t about avoiding that difficult task that you don’t want to do. Rather, it’s about reflection and knowing when to step back and accept the curveballs being thrown at you as opportunities for growth and development. More often than not, I’ve found that these twists and turns in my career have led to new ways of thinking and innovation.

It’s the culmination of these detours that has brought me to this point and led me to build The Connectors which helps people cultivate their skills to better connect with other people, resources, and ideas.

If you’d like some help cultivating new connections in your life or are just curious about what we do, please check out our workshops or coaching pages, or just drop us a line at hello@theconnectors.net. And if you find yourself in the Salem area, please change your life by visiting the Punto Urban Art Museum – open 24/7.