You don’t always know who’s influencing you… or when you’re influencing someone else.

You don’t always know who’s influencing you… or when you’re influencing someone else.

I spent a morning at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame recently, wandering through decades of music history.
(highly recommend, if you haven’t been)

I noticed that many of the exhibits talked about influence:
how some artists influenced future artists
how artists influenced each other

Some of the influences were obvious:
The band they grew up listening to on repeat.
The album they wore out until the vinyl warped.
The artists who played together in multiple venues or tours over the years.

But I kept thinking about the other kind of influence.
Maybe an artist heard a song only heard once, and it made their brain go, “huh”.
It made them rethink a chord, a lyric, a way of performing.
A tiny moment that shifted their path.

And then I realized I have little moments in my life like that, too:
> A colleague I worked with once who made me laugh and shifted my perspective.
> An actor I worked with decades ago whose combination of fire and grace sticks with me.
> A little kid on the playground whose act of kindness brought tears to my eyes.

So many people and moments have influenced me in ways I may not even realize.
And I wonder - what tiny moment have I been part of that quietly influenced someone else?

I tend to notice the big, obvious influences in my life.
My parents
My dearest, longest friends
The artists and authors whose work sticks with me

But I think I’ve been discounting the quieter, smaller influences.

So now I’m curious -
What’s one “small” influence that’s shaped you in a big way?