Kale, Wonder, and the Queen of England

I'm sitting here at lunch today, realizing there's only 12 more hours left to this year's GISHWHES (Greatest Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen)--probably less than that by the time this blog post sees the light of day. The thought is bittersweet.

On the one hand, my life has been a bit topsy-turvy this week--my usual routine upset by crazy tasks like creating and recording a duet rendition of "Eye of the Tiger", practicing my Blue Steel for a mug shot--and getting up the nerve to submit it--and soliciting my friends for help with tasks I can't possibly accomplish--like recording a barrel roll in a fighter jet from the pilot's POV.

Ha.  Yeah, right.

Not to mention that frankly, asking people for help with such random nonsense is downright terrifying.  Let's just be honest, here.  It's bad enough asking for help when there's a good reason for it, but to tell someone you need THE SINGLE MOST RANDOM FAVOR EVER for the sake of a scavenger hunt (okay, THE scavenger hunt of all scavenger hunts, but still)...I got plenty of practice explaining myself and GISHWHES succinctly.  Or at least attempted to.

But on the other hand, the experience has been incredible.  Aside from the fact that a lot of the list items have just been downright fun, I've made fourteen new friends in record time (TeamFreeWillMinions, woot!), taken goofy photos that will probably haunt me forever, and above all, been reminded that there really are people--thousands of them--who are willing to snap out of the daily grind long enough to make the world a slightly better place for all of us.

All that to say that the end of GISHWHES is a sad moment, sure, but the experience and the lessons will last far longer than the week.  

I suppose there are as many possible lessons in such an event as there are people to learn them, but for me, the big lessons of GISHWHES 2014 were this:

1) Don't take anything for granted.  Pull your head out of the phone screen or (God forbid) the book long enough to actually participate in what's going on around you.  

2) Life is crazy and random and wild--and you know what?  That's okay.  In fact, send a little crazy, random, wild kindness back at it as payback.  

3) Wonder is an underrated, under-appreciated concept.  We experience it so much as kids, and then 'grow out of it' as we get older, as everything becomes familiar and routine.  This is a type of death in itself, I think; and I for one am far too young to live dead.

So to all the GISHers out there (and the rest of you too); enjoy these last hours of GISHWHES 2014--but then don't stop!  Don't stop being abnosome, quirky, kind, and delightful.  Embrace the wonder that is all around us, just waiting to be seen--and create something wonderful for others to marvel at!  Until next summer, BE GISHWHES.

PS--Here's to kale smoothies.  Surprisingly yummeh.