Note-so-secret admiring
One of my tenets in life and travel is the importance of talking to strangers. I’m an equally big believer in the beauty of messaging strangers. I’m not talking about sending creeper emails to randos. No one wants to receive a “Hey, I saw you in the cereal aisle at Whole Foods and you looked mighty fine in those blue slacks.”
No, not like that at all.
Rather, I’m suggesting that it’s a good thing to send unsolicited notes to people whose work or way you quietly admire or respect. Let me illustrate the point with a little story.
A few weeks ago my son and I made a short trip to Los Angeles. As I always do when I go somewhere, I’d prepped a small list of things I wanted to do or check out. High on my list was Nickey Kehoe, an interior furnishings and design store I’d had my eye on for a while. In between visits to sneaker stores on Melrose (that’s a whole other story) I persuaded my son that a quick detour to look at vintage chairs and block print pillows would be fun—or at least, a fair trade for the acquisition of his new old school kicks.
Not only was I totally dazzled by the keen eye and warm style of Nickey Kehoe, but my son thought it was pretty cool too.
So when we returned home I decided to look up the store’s email and send them a little note. Nothing fancy, just a few lines saying how much we’d enjoyed and appreciated what we saw. I wasn’t expecting anyone to reply, but the next day I got a lovely message back. They were so touched by my email they wanted to send me something. Could they have my mailing address?
Okayyyy, sure.
An hour ago, UPS delivered a small box to our front door. Inside was a simple card with a note as sweet as it was short. And a book. A gorgeous book featuring photos and stories of interiors designed by Nicky Kehoe.
I had no expectation nor desire for personal gain when I sent my email. And I’m equally sure Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe weren’t motivated by self-interest when they sent me the book. We all just did what we did because it felt right, and it’s kind of fun to send small, happy surprises into the world.