Anticipation

On a similar note to the last post about experiences, the importance of the anticipation should also be considered. This has been said by a lot of others before, but it is true. Like a good wine, the anticipation is what ages a good experience to a great experience. A lot of the overall experience could be remembered not by the actual event, but the building up to it.

Anticipation is a wonderful thing. Anything could still possibly happen (unfortunately, good or bad). Even the bad give you a little excitement and most times a little giggle on some worst case scenarios. During this time, everything’s a blank slate. What can happen is only as limiting as your imagination.

Even more fun is when there are other participant(s) involved in this experience. There will be much discussion on the things to do and experience. The excitements you can build with the possibilities are essential to the overall experience.

With others I think it’s important to note the level of anticipation of the others going/experiencing it with you. Everyone involved should have pretty similar levels of excitement over an experience that you’re about to have. If there are/is someone that you’re dragging into it, it’s certainly not going to be as good. If you’re chatting back and forth about things to do, things to eat, things to experience, and some silly stuff to do, the trip can’t go badly.

With a few people involved, you can even plan for wacky experiences. Personally, I think it would be fun to dress up in a penguin suit and march down a busy city in the summer. No reason. It would be a good experience for you and all the others that saw you. You’d be in countless conversations for a long time. What? No good? OK, maybe that’s just me.

You can tell how well the experience of something will be by the anticipation leading up to it most of the times. There is definitely a lot to be said for spontaneity, but it’s difficult to anticipate or plan spontaneity. Don’t let plain laziness or lack of imagination/fun fool you as someone who's trying to be spontaneous.

You can have lots of spontaneity within the experience. That is where you win lots of points in my books, but those people are hard to find. In general though, you should have some general guidelines in order for a good experience. Yes, there are non-planned experiences, but generally, when you go or do something specifically for an experience, you’re doing something in particular. You can always deviate from the plans if something better comes up. That in itself is part of a great experience.

As the time for the experience draws closer, your heart beats ever harder every time you think about it. There are some general guidelines set, but for the most part it’s all a blank slate. All that anticipation just brews with excitement and a small a dash of fear just for taste. Soon, the experience is just lacking one last ingredient. You.

Enjoy.