There's a fire crackling on the projector of this conference room.

That's not even the weird part.

50 of us are sitting in a circle around the perimeter of the room, wearing flannel, and that's not it either. Maybe weird's the wrong word...

My eyes are closed. Well, everyone's are. At least, I'm pretty sure they are? Unless I misunderstood the directions. Which is possible since I haven't done this particular activity before. Aside from the occasional scuff of a shoe on the carpet, or the jingle-jangle of a name badge and room key on a lanyard, it's completely silent in here. One person's speaking every now and again, but it's with a soothing sort of NPR voice.

"Tap someone who has contagious optimism," they say.

Ooooh that's a good prompt.

That's gotta feel nice for the folks who—

I feel a squeeze on my shoulder. What... you're kidding. I'm already fighting back tears, which is sort of a strange experience when you have to keep your eyes closed. Then I feel a tap-tap on my shoulder. And another. I'm reminding myself to stop clamping my jaw shut so tightly when yet another tap lands.

What's even happening right now...?

Is this for real?

This conference is an unusual one in that it's not corporate or growth-focused, like many I've attended. There's no forecasting conversations, arguments over strategy, or questions about ROI. This has been four days of leadership development—both  from an individual perspective and from a managerial one. I've been able to share a lot about stuff I've learned over the years. These were mostly in coffee-chat style huddles with small groups who'd voted on the discussion topics. Lots of us have never even met before. A decent chunk have worked together virtually, though.

"Please return to your seats."

The fire's not real, but it's hot as hell in here. Folks are sniffling, and I'm one of them.

"If you haven't had a chance to be in the middle yet, raise your hand."

I've been tapped a lot, across many of these different prompts, and I'm shocked.  It's not like I've been going out of my way to try and shmooze people. I mean, I've been participating, but like... a normal amount. Offering a thought here and there, telling someone what I liked about what they shared. I guess I've been cracking jokes, too. I don't know, I hadn't thought about it until now.

Maybe it's that I was too tired to pretend to be anyone but myself...

Contagious optimism, huh?

Strange.

How can a group of people so unanimously see something I can't? Me, a guy who hasn't felt all that positive about himself lately...

I'm sitting here wearing flannel with 50 other people-leaders and there's a fireplace blazing on the projector. With hot tears welling behind my closed eyelids, I get tapped on the shoulder.

It's my turn.

And I can't wait to give this gift to someone else.

* * *

Since I was in conference mode, I didn't get yesterday's Kickturn out until this morning. Rather than stay up to publish, as I'd have done during the MAP Year Project, I opted to be fully present and enjoy connecting with new friends.

10/10 would recommend.

onward.

For more on this daily column, read the backstory here. And if you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along.