Wandering by a half-opened door in the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City I heard the classical refrain coming from a piano located in the performance hall. I spied through the door and saw a musician practicing from the stage. I tested the door, found it open and then walked-in and stood at the top of the stairs for a few minutes. I took in the opulence of the room and then focused on the music. Listening to the rehersal made me wonder who the musician was performing for at this moment. Clearly this was practice and not a public concert. I was an audience. For ten minutes I listened and watched as the pianist practiced and sometimes replayed the same bars repeatedly.

‘Does a falling tree make a sound if nobody is around to hear it?’ Do you need an audience to give meaning to your work? Does a painter need a patron or an author a reader? This very blog- who is the audience? When we use our talent, does it have to be directed at a specific recipient?

The other day I noticed a woman in the car behind me smiling and it was contagious. She was in moving traffic and simply part of the flow, not trying to communicate with any one person but her smile had an impact.

A football game in an empty stadium- does it carry the same meaning as a game in a sold-out stadium? What talents are we sharing and what is our intended impact?