If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to rock the “Britney Spears” style microphone, Lauren (of Blue Posy Floral Designs) showed us all on Thursday night. As we were preparing for the Arranging for Autumn GNO, we had many discussions around layout and sound. Because as it turns out, when you put one hundred women in a room with their girlfriends, around tables, with food and wine, they talk and laugh. . . and talk and laugh some more. Which is, of course, all perfect and wonderful.
It’s exactly what we want it to be.
But when it comes time to learn to do the thing they came to learn to do, all that talking and laughter can make it difficult to for anyone to hear. So, to go along with our theme for the night, we rearranged the seating and the sound set up, to bring everyone a little closer to center. We also decided that it would be best if Lauren wore the hands-free mic to enable her to walk around the room to answer questions and assist in arranging flowers for our ladies. But we’re not talking about the option for one of the sleek, almost invisible hands free headsets. Nope. We’re talking a giant, squash your hair in the back, bubble of foam on the end, Britney-style mic. But instead of shying away from the idea, Lauren embraced it. She knew instantly that would be the best option to serve the women in the room and she rocked that mic, like the boss-babe she is.
She chose to serve.
You see, Lauren knew that by wearing that mic, she was creating the best, most generous experience for our community. She knew that the better they could hear her, the better the chance that they would leave with an arrangement they loved, in addition to a night full of laughter, stories and fun memories. Instead of judging (& trying to “fix”) the loud ones, she had compassion on everyone. She accepted the ruckus makers with arms wide open and stepped up to the task of giving them what they came for anyway.
For our generation, what seems “cool” is shifting.
When we were growing up, “cool” was all about being the famous one. The pop stars and boy bands or whomever was on center stage, they were our idols. They came out to do their thing with all the cameras and mics on them. It was ALL about them, and the image they portrayed. But with the shifts in technology and media changing the way we connect with the world, the people who care about us are the ones we care about, and want to listen to these days. (It’s even more true for the generation behind us.)
They’re the ones working hard to bring us an experience that matters to us.
They write songs we can relate to. They support causes we care about. They’re vulnerable enough to share their own messy stories so we feel less alone in ours. They’re the people we chose to lead us, not because they are “famous” up on some platform, but because they care enough to pay attention, to listen, and to serve.
They’re people like Lauren, who’d don’t mind donning the headset to make sure you get what you came for.
An attitude of service, through connection, is the new cool.
The next time your people have a need, dig deep for compassion before putting up your armor.
Serve them with joy.
That’s what cool is all about.
to more love,
Crystal
