Catch the Popping Corn

Dozens of popcorn kernels spin around an air popper’s chamber.  Tucked inside each kernel’s hard shell is a water droplet in a pocket of starch.  As the temperature in the popper rises, the moisture begins turning to steam.

Pressure builds inside the kernels until one by one the casings give way in a steam explosion so powerful the kernel turns inside out as it arcs through the air.

Apply enough heat and popcorn will pop.  That outcome is certain.  Knowing beforehand which kernel you will catch in the air is impossible.

New ideas are like popping corn.   They’re abundant if you know where to look and brave enough to try them on.  They are out there floating on the ether, waiting for us to pick them up as Paul Arden writes in his book, It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be.   But forecasting which idea will be successful, which idea will make a difference in our lives is as difficult as predicting the timing and trajectory of a popping kernel.

Just because we can’t tell beforehand which ideas will make a difference to us shouldn’t stop us from trying them on.  Testing new thoughts, trying new things, is the essence of expanding the present.  Not everyone is brave enough to do it.

My friend’s in-laws went on a mission trip to Thailand.  Six month after their departure, my friend traveled overseas to visit them.  He loves Thai food.  This trip would be nirvana for his taste buds.  Two days after arriving, my friend still hadn’t eaten a Thai meal.  They would pass street vendors and restaurant stalls, but his in-laws insisted they return to their small apartment where they would eat bland American dishes.

Finally, on the third day my friend couldn’t stand it.  He asked if they could eat out at a Thai restaurant.  His in-laws were hesitant.  They said they were tired of Thai food.  They didn’t really like it.

“What have you had?” he asked.
“Sweet and sour chicken.”
“What else?”
“That’s it,” they said.
“You’ve been here six months and all you’ve eaten is sweet and sour chicken?”
“Yep.  That’s the only dish we’ve heard of”

Fear had kept them from trying anything else.  Needless to say my friend introduced his in-laws to a wide variety of curries and noodle dishes.  They ended up loving Thai food.

This blog is about living in the present.  Not the mediocre present where bland meals are partaken safely within the walls of tiny apartments, but the leading edge of the present — that thin line that separates the now from the unpredictable future.  The expanded present where deep within a maze of back alleys on a faraway isle, a Thai cook experiments with a new combination of exotic spices to produce a previously unknown curry for us to try.

I’ve named this blog Now Squared.  I hope to make it a place to catch popping corn – random kernels of ideas and thoughts that jump out at me as I live my life on the present’s leading edge.

Tagged as: Popcorn