Pictures on a Plane

Most speakers tend to have a bunch of stories involving airplanes. We spend a lot of time traveling to and from engagements and air travel just becomes part of our everyday life. I’m no exception to this rule. Just over a week ago in 72 hours I traveled from Reno, Nevada, to Nancy, Kentucky, to Billings, Montana, and back home to Phoenix, Arizona. It was an exhausting round of travel–especially the Kentucky to Montana leg of the trip. I was functioning on only a few hours of sleep and planned to spend most of that day asleep on the plane.

One leg of that trip put me on a flight from Chicago to Denver. It was a large aircraft that even had fancy business and first class seating. I was back in coach and ended up sitting next to a really nice college sophomore. I didn’t know any of this at first. She greeted me when I took my seat I quickly said hello and then I put on my eyeshade. I know I’ve written a bunch recently about meeting people on planes, but in this case, I knew I needed sleep.

An hour or so later, I woke up and discovered my seatmate drawing. She had a cool set of crayons–oil pastels or something that allowed the colors to blend in a really cool fashion. I sat up and started to watch her draw. She was initially a little self conscious, but after a moment or two, she started to describe what she was doing. I asked if I could see her sketchbook. Apparently, she had filled dozens and dozens of them in her college apartment.

I don’t believe in false praise. I don’t tear people down with insults, but I don’t give out pointless compliments either. I didn’t have to worry about that with this girl. She was talented. Her drawings had this unique energy to them. They were slightly abstract and a bit disturbing, but I was fascinated by them. I asked her if she was an art student.

“No, I’m a psychology major.”

“Have you taken any art classes?”

“No. I’ve wanted to, but I don’t know.”

She began another drawing. I was even more amazed during the second illustration. There was a different energy in this sketch, but that same energy in the lines and the blending of the colors. I’m not going to even try to be an art critic–all I knew was that I liked what I saw.

I think far too many of us are like the girl sitting next to me. We have these incredible talents that we don’t always pursue to their fullest extent. I think psychology is a wonderful degree–I’m glad she chose to major in it–but I worry that people let other parts of themselves die as we grow older. At the same time, I wish that more of us could have aspects of this girl more present in their lives. She might not be pursuing art as a degree, but she’s still expressing herself. She spent her few hours on the plane drawing images and seeing what developed.

What would happen if we just engaged in some of our interests and pursued them just a little bit more? And if we did, could we be as brave as this girl and share them with a stranger?

It’s been over a week and I’m still thinking about the cool things I saw.

In this case, it was her drawing, not some sweatshirt or anything that began our dialogue. When we live bolder, our interactions can be richer.

So to that psychology major who is a sophomore from one of those great Boston colleges, I thank you for drawing on a plane. You made what was supposed to be a nap flight into one that made me dream a bit about how I wanted to live when I was awake.