“Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away.”

Jim Coulter, the founder of the very successful investment company, Texas Pacific Group (TPG) mused on what makes “Experiences” a driving force in today’s economy and how we can think about them differently.  His second thought on experiences is that they have become much more valuable to us because we can share them with others, instantly.  He believes, and I think he is right, that each time we share an experience with someone else we are validating the experience and when that happens the value of the experience rises.  If old enough, you will remember viewing someone’s  vacation pictures from a carousel projector or from a physical photo album.  And if not that old, then just open Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. and check out the beautiful sunsets, sandy beaches, snow-covered ski mountains, etc. We love to share our experiences and when we do, for us the value increases. How are we giving our consumers and customers easy, accessible and well-curated ways to share what we have provided to them?  Are we still asking them to not take photographs (literally or metaphorically) or are we opening up and encouraging them to share?  I hope the latter.

I’ve long said, and you’ve read before from me, that if you give me your calendar and your credit card statements, that within 30 minutes of review, I will tell you the five things/life areas that you value.  I’ve recently added that I might not even need those things as if I spend a few hours on a social media feed, I can begin to hone down what someone values, by what they share.  It’s not totally accurate as today’s social media reactions are different than in their beginnings since today there is open judging and shaming occurring, where in the early days there wasn’t.  So, people don’t share all that they value, but a direction of value can be ascertained.  I do know that we always will share, with someone, in some form, a great experience we have had.  We can’t help ourselves.  And when the other person validates that experience with their awe, amazement, wishes to do the same, our perceived value of our experience increases.  It’s self-reinforcing.  It’s why I like to share about what I know and have experienced about God.  There is no controversy in sharing what God has done within our lives.  It’s our experience and it’s real.  And most importantly, God values this sharing more than we know at the time and reinforces what we know of Him as we let His Spirit move.

Reference:  1 Corinthians 7:31 (New Living Translation)