Instead of entering your next rigid airline seat with the attitude “let me just get through this,” I invite you to see that time on your flight slightly differently. The ceremonious turning off of your cell phone will begin your time of refueling: time where you can slow your fast moving body down, time away from the next phone call, email or meeting; time to yourself to just be. Adjust your approach so you begin to see your flight as an opportunity to spend time void of the typical distractions.
Perhaps you will then allow yourself to enter into a time of creativity that the Skymall invites. Who doesn’t want a Dough-Nu-Matic appliance that spits out a dozen hot doughnuts in six minutes? How about an $899.95 portable, inflatable, whirlpool spa for those moments you could go for a hot soak? Or, better yet, don’t you need a can of “Poop-Freeze,” which sprays a liquefied gas that super-chills and hardens your dog’s excrement in your yard to minus-62 degrees for easier pickup?
Thank you, SkyMall! SkyMall magazine, the airlines’ gateway to shopping land, is one of the highlights of my airplane experience. Every time I look through that collection of neat, strange, wonderful, horrible, ridiculous items, I am fulfilled. I see the Skymall as an invitation for us all to let our creative ideas wander. It is a space where every idea has a place.
I wonder how our experiences on the airplanes we travel would be positively changed if we threw the “let me just get through this” mentality aside and embraced a Skymall ethic of creativity. Some of my most creative ideas have come from the confines of a rigid airline seat. On your next flight, see what this change of approach and a blank legal pad of flowing ideas can do for your business, family, or personal life.
On your next flight:
• Slow down
• Enjoy moments to yourself
• Let your ideas wander!
Jason Barger is author of Step Back from the Baggage Claim: Change the World, Start at the Airport.
