July 2009

Hi Folks!

What do the movies Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Field of Dreams have in common? No, Kevin Costner was not in both, but that's a good guess. In both of these movies, the lead character is driven by voices in his head to accomplish a goal. The guy in Close Encounters obsessively builds a volcano-like thing that eventually resembles the setting of his climactic alien encounter. The lead man in Field of Dreams (yes, this WAS Kevin Costner) is driven by whispers to transform a cornfield into a baseball diamond. He believes that such lunacy will draw spirits of baseball's past to play a final ghostly inning in his backyard.

Both men are connected by a crazy vision that drives them to action. And when they start building on that vision, things start happening.

Rewind real life to 1973 in Santa Cruz. Feel the summer heat and the ocean breeze. Imagine a jog along the coast in shorty shorts and flat shoes. There's music in the air. Guys have big mustaches. Women wear long socks. Santa Cruz was an active destination even then. For some reason a local runner had an idea to start an organized run along the coast with a group of fellow ground-pounders. Somehow this idea evolved into the Wharf to Wharf Race. Who knew?

Way back when in the summer of 1973, the building began. They built it and the people came. And they still do. En masse.

Recently I've started thinking a lot about this concept. To quite Kevin Costner's character, "If you build it, they will come." I'm starting to wholeheartedly believe that if you want something bad enough, and you put a healthy amount of thought and action into it, you'll one day find it materializing before your eyes. Positive energy is magnetic and we have more power than we realize to be the source of it.

I tell my staff that when the store is slow we need to become bustling magnets that create and share positive energy. It draws people in. I know, I know, it sounds so "Santa Cruz". But go figure. It works.

Wharf to Wharf started with a few dozen locals who shared a great idea. They built it and people came.

Every day at Fleet Feet we try to build it too. We'd like to thank you for continuing to come. We plan to be here a while.

To Your Health!

tom