I was rounding the final corner on my walk to the gym in downtown Brooklyn when a baseball fell from the sky and thudded onto the sidewalk in front of me.
Across the street was a recreational field where someone had accidentally hit a ball over the twenty-foot fence. I looked over, and a guy with a baseball glove looked on curiously to see if I was going to spare him an inconvenient walk to retrieve the product of his son’s athleticism.
Secretly delighted, I dropped my backpack and wondered if I could at least get the ball over the fence and in the general direction of my new teammate.
Baseball never excited me growing up, I was a basketball guy through and through—blame it on the whole 6’3 thing. I played baseball during PE classes in elementary school, sure, but basketball was my chosen sport.
I sent up a silent prayer to Roberto Clemente and let it fly.
The ball sailed over the road, cleared the fence, went between the trees where the guy was standing, and he caught it—he didn’t even have to move. I played it off as if it wasn’t a big deal, but I felt like Neo in the Matrix when he learned that he could dodge bullets.
It’s been at least a year and a half since my moment of spectacular arm cannon excellence, but I still smile every time I think about it. In my storytelling workshop called My Beautiful Story, I describe everyone as the hero of their own journey, and how this posture is a catalyst for connection and empathy. I definitely felt like a hero that day.
We all have experiences and accomplishments that we fail to or forget to share with others, and it’s a gift to create the space where people have an excuse to share them.
Willie Jackson helps teams and organizations find harmony. He brings compassion and levity to the challenging work of