The eyes of my ten year old self were wide as I scanned the new decorations in our local library. Towering walls were temporarily set up to form a maze, each of them covered in printed stories from bottom to top. My excitement grew as my eyes fell upon the smallest of typos, “… and and…” the story read. So I did what any well-mannered ten year old with half a measure of grammatical sense and a bend toward justice would do – I recruited the authorities.

 

The librarian at the circulation desk raised her eyebrows high above her eyeglass frames when I recounted the situation. Then in a patronizing gesture, she reluctantly followed me back to the location and searched half-heartedly, leaning close enough for her tired eyes to read. “I don’t see what you’re –” she paused, rocking back on her heels mid-sentence and glancing at me. I proudly smiled back at her. Her gaze returned to the print and she softly admitted, “Well, I guess you’re right.” I requested immediate action be taken to remedy this egregious mistake that I felt reflected so poorly on the library I held dear, though I was finally satiated to a mediocre degree when the gracious librarian assured me I would be the only one who noticed.

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This interaction sparked a passion within me to scrutinize every article I came across. And what did my ten year old self discover? Typos. Typos everywhere. I was horrified, though admittedly pleased with myself. I truly thought I had found my calling in life: to purge print media of wayward commas, forlorn phrases, and stuttered articles.

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Eventually I realized something far more valuable. This moment taught me there is depth in the details. The librarian may have found a fleeting curiosity in the interests of a child but that child walked away with a life-shaping experience in her pocket. This cultivated within me a sense of reverence for the human experience of ever-shifting perspectives, and the idea that a single interaction can change someone’s entire world. What I perceive as an inconvenient conversation at the corner store may be enough assurance to assuage a mangled heart, something ringing in their ears as clear as, “I see you and you are important.” To step into an interaction whilst acknowledging its potential is the opportunity to speak directly into the heart of a future Albert Einstein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, or Martin Luther King Jr. This awareness blossomed into the most rewarding experiences and relationships of my life.

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Now with a few degrees under my belt, I have the know-how to help you find the typos in your life. We might even catch them before somebody else does. What I studied, I learned for you. I didn't know it at the time because I simply fell a little bit in love every time I learned a communication theory, a facilitation skill or a self-assessment to test one's wellbeing. Each discovery was a moment where I paused and sincerely felt "Wow, I have to tell everyone about this." And now here you are, ready for the adventure.

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