We gathered in an empty warehouse floor of a historic building. We enjoyed a delightful summer, 4-course meal prepared by an Omaha local legend, Au Courant. We had a conversation that flowed around the idea of why space matters… the spaces that have impacted us in our lives, and how creating new spaces that embody a feeling are so important. The night brought tears, laughs, strong “um-hums” of agreement, and phone numbers exchanged at the end.
This was a unique dinner collaboration with The House of Beautiful Business, The Museum of Ideas, Millwork Commons, and Dwell Dinner & Co. It came in the form of a House Meet-up. That is, a moment to notice beauty through the people we encounter, the conversations we create, and the spaces we find ourselves in.
The question we asked ourselves this night was What If Beautiful Spaces Draw Us Together Again? As we found ourselves in this historic and beautiful warehouse, we were able to ruminate and delve into what makes a space great and the factors beyond it that impact community. We heard the life stories of each person at the table – their personal experiences about life, community, business, art, science, and space.
A note from our co-host, Shannon Mullen O’Keefe…
I found myself reflecting on pieces and parts of many disparate threads of conversation we had together, processing even more the next and following days about how much space matters and how it impacts our lives. I also found myself reflecting about how much it matters for us to curate spaces that we and others can belong in.
It was a joy to learn about the many interesting nuances of each person’s life. There are so many inspiring ways in which each of you are in your own way making business more beautiful.
As you move forward, I hope you might keep in mind some of the principles that we reflected on in the beginning of the discussion. Things like, how anticipation can matter as much as fulfillment and about how our emotions and our emotional experience is a friend to reason. Both are necessary.
And lastly, from the pages of The Business Romantic…
“We may not play by a different game, but if we play by different rules, we may end up with a better one.”
To continue to reflect on the topic of space…
What makes a space beautiful?
What works about the spaces you inhabit now? (What could be even better?)
Why does it matter for space to evolve over time?
What space do you have in mind that needs a change now?
How do you know when you enter a space where you feel like you belong?
What inspires us to be in a space (together?)
What space haven’t you yet explored?
What space has most influenced you (or impacted your life?) How will that influence how you inhabit your next space?
What ghosts inhabit your space?
What will this space look like 100 years from now?
What about place or space might entice us away from our digital devices?
What about space inspires us to be together? How can we create more of those?
