In February 2017 John Keats (not the long, dead poet) posted a Musical World map on YouTube using MIDI art. It is fun to listen to when you watch the video’s bar scroll past notes outlining the land masses on the world map.
Then a few months later HybridShark, who posts his own videos on YouTube, used that video and changed it up.
It caught me. At first, I was listening and thinking how nice the world sounded together. There is some talent in creating and composing these pieces. They don’t just happen to sound good, but I still enjoyed having the music and pictures put together. Anyway, everything changes when you discover the addition of Toto’s “Africa” being played in the spot where the bar reaches Africa. And that’s what caught me.
It caught me and then it delighted me. I had to play it a few more times because I loved the combination of the perky music and that little, unexpected change.
It perfectly shows how I see the people and the cultures of this world.
There are a couple of grocery stores in the Phoenix area called “Baiz Market”. They have foods from different countries and it is fun to walk in and see all the food and people. One of my favorite things is the sweets counter filled with several different types of baklava and confections. One of the sweets has “rose” in its name. It didn’t quite look like a rose, but I could see some similarities. It never occurred to me that the “rose” would be flavor. I remember biting into it and thinking, “That’s a little different”, but it quickly grew on me and is now one of my favorite flavors on that counter. Bliss.
While in Grenada we had a driver for a couple of days. We were not willing to take on the mountainous roads on our own with the speedy, curvy driving on the left side of the road. Kerry, our driver, was recommended to us by the owners of Sea Glass Place where we stayed.
We loved Kerry. He was easy to talk with and had our best interests at heart. Though he didn’t have to, because he is not a tour operator, he decided to hike one of the trails with us where we went to see the 7 Sisters Waterfalls. I am so glad he did because it was not easy for me and he always stuck an arm out to help me here or there.
Throughout the day, we talked about a number of things. When he found out that I have type 1 diabetes he told me all about cinnamon tea (cinnamon bark steeped in hot water) and how it really helps your diabetes. At one point, he asked if he could give me some cinnamon bark if I would try it. I said yes, but didn’t think much more about it.
The day wore on and soon it was time to head home. I thought. I realized after a while that we weren’t quite headed the way I thought we were going. I asked Kerry about it. He pointed up in the hills, said his house was up there and he was headed there to get the cinnamon bark. He took us to his home to get it. I realized he had gone out of his way, with a cost of both time and money to him, just so he could help me with my health. I had seen his sweetness throughout the day as he helped me here and there, but this touched me more than I can express. Another unexpected, treasured difference.
But it wasn’t just Kerry. It comes from the culture of Grenada. So many of the people were helpful beyond what they needed to be with this or that and we could tell it wasn’t just because we were tourists as they were doing the same thing for other islanders around us.
Together we can create beautiful things that inspire others, comfort the weary, lift each of us and if we stick around long enough we will find ourselves delighted with the unexpected differences.
When have you been delighted by an unexpected difference?