All over but the Shoutin

I just finished my monthly magazine morning, where I basically take a half day and read all my monthly subscriptions (GOOD, Conde Nast Portfolio, Smart Money, Best Life, Relevant). They all had some great stuff as usual, but there was an article on New Orleans food that was really great. The writing seemed really familiar and then I discovered it was written by Rick Bragg, the author of one of my favorite books, All over but the Shoutin.

I am a big fan of business, theology, and leadership books, which makes it all the more odd that this would be one of my favorites since it doesn't have anything to do with any of those subjects, although there is a bit of theology if you really want to stretch the definition. What I like about Bragg is both his style which we all could learn from, but also his world view and upbringing resonate with me.

It reminded me that no matter how unique we are and special we believe ourselves to be, there are others out there who have experienced many of the same things we have, and if we remember that, we can use those shared experiences to draw closer.