Being a Keeper Of The Flame- A new experience around every corner.

Lately I have been doing some serious soul searching... What is it that motivates me? What is it that I crave out of life? As part of this quest, I started reading "Keeper Of The Flame: How to inspire others on the cusp of change" by Mike Lipkin, and I'm really glad that I am. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own little world of ups and downs, we start to lose sight of the big picture. This is your classic "missing the forest through the trees analogy". But as I read this book, I am beginning to realize that my ultra optimistic attitude and dissatisfaction with the status quo doesn't make me crazy, it makes me a keeper of the flame... a source of light for both myself and others.

Ok, so I'm not quite a motivational speaker yet, but who knows.. maybe one day! Anyways, as part of this journey to live on the cusp of change, I thought I would participate in an online discussion during a live webcast of one of my favorite shows; The Agenda with Steve Paiken (http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda). Ok, this show is likely not something your average 20-something would watch, but I'm a geek, and a geek who is interested in world issues. I actually am upset that I missed yesterdays episode on the Web 3.0, but I digress.

I started off by watching the show from the comfort of my couch and Twittering my comments to the Agenda's online chat run by one of the producers, Mike Miner. Then I realized I was sending out my comments, but I wasn't getting in on what other people were saying... so I migrated to my computer room. (sidebar: yes, I know that I am living in the stone age by not having a TV in plain viewing space as my TV... one day when I can afford a second TV). I started participating in the chat, and I was a bit shocked to see that less than 10 people were interacting in the conversation on the site. I had to ask myself, is this show that obscure, or maybe people are just watching the comments as they go by? Either way, we had some great conversation and Steve even answered my question during the live webcast after the on air show (this is when only having 10 people is sweet!)... which I thought was super cool.

I exchanged a few private messages with the moderator/producer, and then decided this guy was super legit so I decide to follow him on Twitter so I could get the latest scoop on my show (@mikeminer). After this great experience I had interacting with a "traditional" media outlet, I wondered how I could continue my journey of being a keeper of the flame and continue experiencing new things.

Sure, a chat online with a TV show producer isn't ground breaking, but it's the first time I did it and its a first step in many of inspiring others on the cusp of change. Maybe the next step is volunteering to help at the show... that would be pretty cool I think. Heck, maybe I could even convince them to get Don Tapscott on the show so I could shake his hand... stay tuned to see what I can pull off.