TRACI TRIMBLE: In preparation for writing this article, I was evaluating the degree of my own personal depth. I began to compare myself with others whom I consider to be “people of depth” and wondering where I fit into “having depth”.
I considered all of the things I thought would be important components of “accumulating” depth – like being an expert in something specific – as though the gathering of knowledge or the creation of faith were “things” one acquired to be a better person than ones who did not. This train of thought whirled into something even more unattractive and completely ego based.
I actually got caught in some kind of debate in my head that had nothing to do with the theme of depth. Let me tell you that writing gets a little tricky if you spend too much time in your own head.
It suddenly came to me that that I did not consider myself to be a person of depth. I see the big picture and yet often just cannot be bothered with the details. How does one acquire depth and not be interested in the details?
My entire life (and I don’t mean my adult life, I truly mean my entire life) people who love me have been telling me to focus on one thing. That is just not my speed. I get so bored being “focused” on just one thing. I was (for only a brief moment) beginning to wonder if perhaps there was something of value in the ignored advice to focus on one thing. Would it have been “better” for me to have had a singular focus? To have become an expert on just one thing and stay focused there? I am confident to say that I know a little bit about a whole lot of things...not just book experience but in real life experience, too. However, I have never really considered myself as an expert on any one given subject. So I started to question my personal depth again. Asking “what is the depth of my contribution to my community” and asking if I am really in a place to write about it.
Still, nothing was coming to me. I must have been talking out loud while I was feeling a little like this was not a subject for me to be exploring, let alone writing about when my business partner, Jenny, piped up and reminded me of one of my very cool skills... I am a visionary.
I have an incredibly agile ability to take that which is in the now and to see the unlimited possibilities far into the future. I am able and willing to dream, create and then live my vision of that future as though it were now. When most see an acorn lying on the ground – food for a squirrel - I see, first, the tree born from the seed that then becomes wood used to build a home that then is part of a community where people of all walks of life flourish.
Well, heck, that... my friend... is called DEPTH. Depth of VISION!
Here it all begins to flow...
Being able to see farther ahead than what is directly in front of me is my gift and it has served me in many ways. First and foremost it makes me a thought leader - someone who truly “gets” the big picture of most situations. I am a strategic planner, a visionary, a person of great belief in infinite possibilities. I have been called crazy for seeing something so clearly that has yet to explained, yet to be proven, yet to exist. This only drives me more to achieve it. It creates excitement that is contagious. As my dream or vision begins to manifest into that which I, with unwavering faith, believed it could have been then evidence is created for others to see, feel, touch and taste it. This evidence is the fuel needed not only for me to continue but also for others to trust in my ability...in my depth of vision. With such trust, people are compelled to follow my leadership, to be inspired by my vision and to trust their own desires to be, to do or to have anything that they want. Together, with a broader depth of vision than any one individual could possibly have we create a community of dreamers. A community of like-minded people!
When I walk through everyday life I do so briskly (focused not on one but on many amazing possibilities) with my head held high and looking not just in front of me but also to the farthest left and to the farthest right. I encourage you do this as well, so you may take in all of the opportunities to notice things that are happening in front of you...to enjoy all of the gifts that this world has to offer – ideas, people, places and circumstances that are far off of the radar screen of most, basking in the depth of vision.
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Biography
