This past week I had clients in Silicon Valley which is a bit of a commute in morning traffic.  It takes me a while to get ready in the morning because I run and do Pilates before breakfast, then I’m heating up lunch to put in my thermos. Then a million other little things.  Altogether, quite a project to get me out the door.

So I was up and running at 5 am.  Never saw another soul.  Completely dark.  Still.  Spiritual.

Wonderful solitude while the world was sleeping.  Feeling completely at peace.  No lights on in the houses.  Something comforting about knowing the world around me was serenely sleeping.  Something so peaceful about sleep.   Something profound about being the first to greet the day.

I felt tremendous affinity for the sleeping world around me, picturing them each sleeping peacefully and gradually entering the world with their own unique morning routines, making coffee, probably a rushed breakfast, scanning the morning ahead, looking forward to it with eagerness, boredom or dread.

The magical dawn and emerging symphony of bird song started a little before 6.  The sun gradually rose.

Later, as I sat in morning traffic, I looked around the sea of humanity around me, I looked at the faces inside the cars.  I thought about how extraordinary it was that none of us knew each other, yet we all had this one moment in common, sharing this traffic jam. The faces I saw were beautiful.  I realized how much we all have in common.

Each one of us is unique, each one of us with a purpose to achieve, each one of us giving something to the day to move our civilization forward.  Each one of us, doing our best with what we know, loving, struggling, fighting back from our mistakes, achieving victories large and small, relying on our friends, expressing ourselves best we can, daring to dream.

To my surprise many drivers smiled at me, warm, genuine smiles.  By the time I arrived, I felt I had encountered a number of unexpectedly good people.

Then I walked in to meet 9 senior executives in a large high-tech company, 9 I have never met before, but ones I knew already were part of our beautiful humanity.  I loved them before we even said hello.

Wishing you a beautiful day and many magical encounters.

Love,

Ingrid