the Way of the Turtle

Thoughts from a Guest Speaker, Part 1
JOY and BEAUTY
Friday, December 7, 2007

I don't usually write about work here, but today we had a guest speaker as part of our Alumni Lecture series, and three things he said stuck in my mind. (For those who are curious, the speaker was Andy Fisher '61, who was principal news writer for the Today show from 1989 to 1999 and is currently the business news writer for CNBC.)

When asked about experiences in college at Columbia, he relayed the story of having a long conversation with one of his English professor, at the end of which his teacher told him he had an assignment for him, one which he most likely would not complete by the end of the semester, the end of his undergraduate studies, or even the end of his lifetime. He was told that there are two words which have all but vanished from the English language - "joy" and "beauty." And his assignment was to do all that he could to bring those two words back into the English language. And ever since he has tried to find ways to express joy and beauty in his work and his life.

That struck me as a very powerful statement. It seems to me that we could all do a lot worse than to find opportunities whenever we can to seek out and express joy and beauty and to do what we can to bring joy and beauty to the lives of those around us... and perhaps doing so would make our own little corners of the world a better place for all who are there.

JMH