Recently an Industry Friend of mine posted on Facebook his desire to start a new diet. A fascinating thread of conversation spurred off of this Facebook post. Many people weighed in on the topic, giving food and diet advise. People from all over the country and from many different walks of life posted a response. Reading the thread back, I started to noticed a trend - everyone seemed to band together to promote quinoa. This supergrain was connecting people in the most unique way. Individuals, stranger from around the country, were finding common ground and starting a dialogue stemming from quinoa. My interesting take-away from the "quinoa-palooza" was that we have more opportunities to find connections with others than we might realize - we just need to look for it! On first blush, many of us tend to categorize and even (dare I say) judge people based on very surface criteria such as: democrat/republican; male/female; gay/straight; vegetarian/carnivore; college education/high school education. We then put people in a category of expectation based on our first blush scan. (I woul
d be remiss if I didn't state the old adage "Don't judge a book by its cover".) If we challenge ourselves to dig a little deeper, I'm sure we will find common bonds with most people we come in contact with - we will find our own quinoa. It's a great feeling when you're talking to someone and you click with them, when you realize that you have shared interests, experiences, values, or world views. Feeling that warm, fuzzy moment of true connection with another person is something to be happy about, something to strive for daily. These connections not only assist us in forming relationships, these interactions can be very rewarding emotionally. Look for your "quinoa moment" whenever possible! I know I will. We might just have more in common with the world-at-large than we ever imagined.
