Become a Becoming Expert

My friends, do you enjoy experiencing things? Do you enjoy experiencing new things? Last week, we went up to the chain of lakes between Dexter and Pinckney. I rented a boat from NautiMe On the River. They rent a retro fitted pontoon boat that looks like a floating tiki hut. It comes with a boat captain, speakers for your favorite musical playlist, a porta potty (if you need it) and three hours of being boated around the chain of lakes. We invited two other couples to join us, and it was, in a word, relexifying. Yep, I just made that word up. I highly encourage everyone to check them out. Why do I tell this story, you may ask? Well, recently, I read an article about the idea of becoming. To experience becoming, to find out what is inside you, to help make your soul grow. This idea, from as near as I can tell came from the American author Kurt Vonnegut. He wrote a letter as a reply to a high school English teacher challenging their students to write Vonnegut. If you have not read about this, Google it. It is a very heartwarming story.

In this article, Vonnegut challenges these young students to experience becoming. He tells them to draw, author a poem, pick up an instrument and experience all it has to offer. Maybe dancing down the street to a tune in your head will garner strange looks but become more than what you are. Experience becoming to help you more fully enjoy your time on this planet. Now, back to the story. On this boat ride, the conversation was light, the food was great, and laughs were plentiful. To myself, I wanted to find five beautiful sites that I could take a mental picture of to remember and grow my own becoming muscles. The first beautiful picture I took with my mind was a family of swans. To see the momma and daddy swan watch us as their three babies foraged around watergrass and lily pads was beautiful to me.

The second, and I know this may seem strange was seeing an elderly woman sitting on her deck reading a book. I know this may seem strange or bland, but the sense of peace she exuded radiated off her. There were others, but the last image I hope to remember forever was when I went to the back of the boat to get a picture of the group. I didn’t capture the moment with my phone. Rather, I took the picture with my mind. My wife and our four friends were all engaged in genuine laughter. The look they all had was, in a word, perfect. I do not recall what they were laughing at, but the fact that they were all sharing that moment together was the most beautiful moment my mind captured.

Becoming is something that sounds easy. But to, as Vonnegut says, “To experience becoming, to find out what’s inside of you, to help make your soul grow” is a little tougher. To take an example from Vonnegut’s letter to the students, I challenge you to try this. Author a six-line poem. Write it about whatever you want. I know. Poetry. Stay with me, friends. Write the poem. Read it to yourself. Reflect on it for just a moment. Then rip it up into a million pieces and throw it away. The poem was for you and you alone. Since I have read this letter from Vonnegut, I have written myself a six-line poem every day. What is really funny, is one I wrote a couple days ago really made me laugh. Yes, that is right. I made myself laugh, a genuine belly laugh from something I wrote 20 minutes before. It may sound weird, but it was awesome, dare I say beautiful. Take your belly laughs wherever you can find them, my friends. Find beauty in our day-to-day lives. On a Wednesday night, on the mighty Huron River and the chain of lakes created, I saw many of God’s greatest works. The greatest work of all, however, was being able to slow my world down for just a moment to catch my wife and our friends sharing a genuine laugh on a night as close to perfect as I have been fortunate enough to have in a very long time. Thank you, Rob and Jess, Gary, and Jessica. Happy birthday Carolyn and thank you Mr. Vonnegut.

Steve is a Dexter resident and the Owner, Tiki Boat First Mate (for one night), Director of Awesome Moment Capturing and Becoming Apprentice at Better Place Consulting, a success and career coaching organization. Reach out to him at steve@betterplacemgmt.com.