Dog hair on my doormat taught me something special

Every morning, there’s a new layer of dog hair on my doormat outside my apartment.

Like after a fresh snowfall.

My neighbours have dogs, you see.

The hallway in my building becomes a collection point for their fur.

Most people would find this annoying.

But this reminded me that most interesting ideas don’t necessarily need to come from living a wild, crazy eventful life like Indiana Jones.

They come from paying attention to the unremarkable stuff most ignore.

Little things like:

• The way people avoid eye contact in lifts.
• Nearly getting knocked over by e-scooters.
• How your coffee tastes different when you’re stressed versus relaxed.

Nobody needs you to climb Everest or start a billion-dollar company to have something worth writing about.

They need you to notice what they’re too busy to notice themselves.

And when you see these things, they realise they’re just like you.

And that’s what creates connection.

This goes against everything we’ve been taught about ‘content.’