Whimsy.

On Monday I had the great pleasure of meeting Leif Enger, the author of one of my favorite novels. He was impossibly insightful, witty, and his speech possesed a cadence and warmth that was like being wrapped up in a heavy, patched quilt. 

The topic of the evening was excellence. Enger described excellence as a mix of discipline, dedication, hard work, and whimsy. Enger explained even further, "Ambition without whimsy leads to every dark corner".

Whimsy. I was enthralled with this idea. I am quick to throw whimsy and beauty out the window when I have "more important things to do". I too often see these things as frivolous and opt for activities that seem more necessary, more significant. Hearing Enger speak sparked something inside of me. I wanted to chase beauty, read poetry, and find the whimsy of the world. Not because there is a significant reason, but simply for the sake of beauty and freedom.

The more this rolls around my mind the more I start to realize that as we pursue whimsy and find beauty I think we will find even more purpose and truth. The things which I hope to achieve will find a new richness and vitality that truth alone can not afford. Or perhaps beauty and truth are not so separate, but inextricably linked?

To quote Enger who quoted Keats:

Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st, 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

In finding beauty we find truth, and in finding truth we have found beauty. I hope you find whimsy in your day today, in shared laughter, an impromptu dance party, doing something frivolous but fantastic. I'm going to look for it in my today, but with whimsy on my mind I can't wait for spring this year - to sit by a lake, lay in the grass, to find beauty at every turn. I think I will take a cue from the Tallest Man on Earth:

         Well, if I ever see the morning
         Just like a lizard in the spring
         I'm gonna run out in the meadow
         To catch the silence when it sings