Amazing Insignificant Events

Twenty Seven thousand fans are packed into Red Rock, one of the best music venues in the world. The arena is carved from a mountain of giant red rocks. The sold out crowd is watching Ben Folds rock out on the piano.

I emerge from a backstage hallway right next to the front of the stage. A security guard stops me, but lets me pass when I point to my badge. “Working”, it says. I’m not working.

In front of the whole crowd, I walk across the stage. Ben Folds lifts one of his hands from the piano, locks eyes, and waves at me. A little startled, I wave back.

This isn’t a significant event. He doesn’t know me – he was just curiously staring at my hat from the table next to mine during dinner. John Mayer was on the other side of my table.

Still, I think back to the only other time I’ve given Ben Folds a second thought. He did a stunt with a group called “Improv Everywhere”. I slumped in my couch and watched the video. It was amusing, and I thought it would be the last time I thought of Ben Folds.

It’s that connection that fascinates me. If I were to consider likely future events with this musician in the video, I’d never think that he’d wave to me in front of 27,000 fans. Why would I ever think that? Maybe I could fathom going to one of his shows, but eating at the neighboring table in the tour’s cafeteria? Being personally recognized

What about when I first read about pickup artists and dismissed it as “stupid”. How could I have ever predicted that I’d live with them and steal the best one’s girlfriend? In high school I heard about the tunnels under UT. Later I was on the news for breaking into them. In high school I played blackjack for the first time at project graduation. Years later I was a professional gambler. McDonalds used to be my daily haunt. Now I’m a vegan. The list goes on…

When situations like this come up, I always pause my brain and think about them. I try to consider other crazy things that might happen that I would never guess. That’s a game that can’t be won, of course, since the whole point is that these things can’t be predicted.

What I love about these amazing insignificant events are that they constantly illustrate the unpredictable and exciting nature of life. I get excited trying to imagine the possibilities that I can’t imagine. Although any given day may seem routine or ordinary, that’s no guarantee that tomorrow won’t be extraordinary.