Reflection

I was privileged to spend the past week at Hollyhock on Cortes Island in BC. The "Web of Change" conference was the purpose for going but the location, retreat and delicious vegetarian cuisine are what I will remember. After a bit of a long journey, we arrived at supper time to a sumptuous buffet and beautiful sunshine creating prisms on the Georgia Strait. The calm and quiet let us sleep for almost 12 hours the first night and that set the tone for the next 5 days. The conference was quite 'techie' and while I am not a technophobe I don't have a clue about drupal or AX, CRM or HFM. There were some amazing contacts made within the 100+ participants and a new friend from one of the non conference guests.
I will discuss some of the learnings in other posts but I am reflecting today on how fragile our experiences can be. We boarded a flight last night in Victoria and before takeoff a passenger went into cardiac arrest. It took more than 20 minutes for EMS to arrive and three passengers and the Westjet staff used CPR to bring him back at least twice. The EMS response time seems ridiculous (yes, WJ, Transport Canada, and VIctoris International are all getting letters) but the staff and passenger response was amazing. I couldn't help thinking that the patient hadn't expected the attack, was probably planning his next day, and maybe hadn't shared his feelings, concerns or hopes with someone for a long time.
Strange that I may be changed more by the incident than a well planned and executed change conference.