As I’ve been pondering my intentions for this year I was struck again about how much curiosity can play a part in planning and practice. Okay, I know that’s a really broad statement, but curiosity really can lead us in very definitive directions. Consider what we’ve achieved as a species by saying to ourselves “how can we do this better” or “I wonder what it would be like to _____” or “what’s that over there?”

Case in point, I was driving by a small airport on Amelia Island recently.

Now, Amelia Island is pretty small – eleven thousand people in total, and this tiny airport had just been built. That it was new wasn’t what caught my attention, but the fact that the terminal is in the shape of a plane!

You drive up and it looks like a giant plane sitting by a field.

I was curious about it and I thought it would be fun to go inside. So I drove into parking lot. As I was walking up to the door of the tiny little place – which is basically a single room the size of a small coffee shop – I noticed a small sign by the front that said “Knitting Group Meeting: 2nd floor”

When I asked the lady behind the desk (yes, there was just one lady) about this, she confirmed there was in fact a knitting group meeting at the airport and she said that other days other groups like to use that space.

What I love most about this here is this town commission and airport authority who had built a multi-purpose gathering place for anyone in the area. It went beyond air services. That’s thinking outside the box (or the terminal).

I loved it because it built community.

This kind of creative openness allows for solutions that reflect rewarding partnerships and builds support for more. We could definitely take a cue from that.

*Barbara’s thoughts as written by Kate based on weekly (fascinating) conversations.