Several weeks ago, I was the recipient of a remarkable experience. My dear friend, and wine collector extraordinaire, Gene, invited me to dinner to meet a friend of his — a prolific author who was in town to promote his latest book. Little did I know that it would turn out to be an inspirational evening.

Michael Gelb has made a nice living writing about things we didn’t know we missed until he pointed a few of them out to us. For example, in his book, “How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci,” Gelb introduces seven principles for thinking like history’s greatest genius, including Da Vinci’s insatiable curiosity as well as his enthusiastic approach to life’s mysteries. These principles seem to smack of common sense yet offer incredible insight at the same time.