A Walk Down Memory Lane
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A Walk Down Memory Lane
“We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.”
Last week, very appropriately during Memorial Day weekend, I was joined by Jessica, our oldest daughters, and two granddaughters for a trip back home to Stockholm. A very literal and wonderful walk down memory lane! I know, of course, that Memorial Day is about honoring our fallen soldiers who gave their lives to protect our freedoms. But the very mention of our collective remembrance, for me, encompasses that and more. For the purposes of this post, I am expanding the notion of Memories to include all of our pasts.
It felt good to be back home. The pandemic certainly stretched out the distance between visits.
Roots matter. You can’t escape them. They are part of you no matter what. And you don’t want to ignore them. Like most roots, they require nourishment, care, and proper conditions for healthy growth. But it is equally important to recognize that while our roots contain our future, we cannot let our future be contained by our roots. That’s why we grow wings. And, as with most things in life (and in this newsletter series), it's a question of balancing different perspectives. Finding a healthy and happy place where you can fly, but yet remain grounded in who you are.
I feel blessed in this way. I had a fantastic upbringing in one of the most civilized places on earth: Sweden. I was surrounded by loving parents, beautiful nature, compassionate culture, modern values and aesthetics, and a strong, supportive, and wonderful community of friends.
But I also was given a license to dream, to explore, and to adventure. It took me to London and many other great places and, ultimately, we settled down in Chicago. For now!
I often think about these roots and how they have defined who I am. And the older I get, as the beautiful poem I started with suggests, the more I feel I get to know myself and my place in this world. And perhaps T.S. Eliot truly is right that the long winding road of life ultimately does take us back to where it all started, but that we now know that place for the very first time. It's a beautiful —and to me— a comforting thought.
Spending time with our parents is, of course, particularly special. “Getting old isn’t for sissies,” Betty Ford reminded us. It’s true. Jessica and I are lucky to have such strong, committed, and resilient parents who can now spend some time with their many great-grandchildren. Seeing the roots and wings mesh across four generations right in front of your eyes is beyond meaningful. And not that common. It's special beyond comprehension.
Our senses have different roles to play when it comes to memory and experiences. Taste and smell are exceptionally effective for time travel. Eating food you grew up with in environments that look and feel the same as 40 years ago is a powerful experience. Close your eyes, and voila, you don’t need Dr. Emmett Brown to take you back to the future.
I am not much of a nostalgic person. I want my brain to be more occupied by my dreams than by my memory. But I must admit that I am gradually getting more retrospectively minded. I am seeing the value of what I have behind me as much as what I have in front of me. Age is playing its role here, as the days ahead of me are now most likely far fewer than the days behind me.
But perhaps the radical uncertainty of our future might make the certainty of the past feel a bit more attractive. At least, relatively so.
I am grateful to all our friends and family who were so gracious with their time and so engaged in conversations during a very intense week. I am already looking forward to our next visit where I will further water and nourish these very much appreciated Swedish roots of mine.
I hope you, too, had a chance to spend quality time with your loved ones this past weekend and that the arrival of summer weather, graduations, weddings, and a feeling of more normalcy is helping all of humanity to feel better, to be better, and to ultimately act better.
Lastly, below a "button" for a shameless self-promotion of a podcast I did a few weeks ago with Hospitality Mavericks. Michael Tingsager did a good job asking thoughtful questions about my philosophy, my career, and my ideas, and it was overall a wide-ranging conversation for anyone who is interested in what I really think!! I enjoyed it. Let me know what you think if you listen.
Have a great week!
