Derek Sivers

Climbing ladders

2009-09-06

Do you know the story of how John Lennon met Yoko Ono?

He went to a friend’s art gallery and saw an empty room with a tall ladder going up to the ceiling.

He climbed to the top of the ladder, and there was just a magnifying glass which, if held up to the ceiling, revealed a little tiny word “yes”.

He loved it, and asked about the artist. It was Yoko, and that’s how they met.


In the early 1990s I met this girl, and hit it off right away.

When I mentioned that I would love to find someone like Yoko, and really admired her work, her eyes went big and she said, “Wow! Really? I love Yoko! I’ve never met anyone else who does!”

It was an endearing moment between us.

We dated for a while, but lost touch.


This year on Facebook, she added me as a friend.

I emailed, saying, “Wow! Long time! How are you?” She’s happily married and doing well.

She asks how I’m doing. I filled her in, then added at the end, “P.S. Still looking for my Yoko.”

Her reply was priceless:

“If history serves, you don’t look for a Yoko. A Yoko simply appears when you least expect her. Just keep climbing ladders.”