Inner and Outer Beauty
As I left the house this morning, my mind was racing over concepts of finance that I'd watched last night. Jon Udell interviewed Salman Khan about education and screencasting in his work on http://khanacademy.org. Their conversation began with thoughts about using a minimalist approach to produce tutorials on a vast array of subjects. They moved on to exciting conversations about education and technology. I spent some time watching a few of the videos... surprised to find that some among that collection were directly relevant to some of the work I do for bivio. My mind was buzzing about present value and his spreadsheet model for analyzing the question of buying a house vs. renting. I was daydreaming of other possibilities for the software he's created to quiz people on math concepts: http://khanexercises.appspot.com/. I was thinking about how I might do something similar around my work on perspective, or around the lessons I've learned about software development and software business from Rob. I was thinking a little about how I might simplify whatever it is I want to tell about Ralph Miller, Sarah's Grandfather.
Then I snapped out of my inner world and noticed the space I was in.
The sun was brilliant on the snow as I walked to work this morning. Each crunchy step along the sidewalk carried my eyes through shimmering veils, twinkling rays of sunlight reflecting off of the snow from every direction I turned. The sparkly blanket was striped with the startling visual quiet from the shadows of trees and shrubs.
The inner and outer landscapes were equally beautiful and exciting. I'm glad to have been lost in thought and equally glad to have been found in the moment. At least some people I know would disagree. If you have not been enchanted by mathematics and software, I'm sorry for the beauty you're missing. And regardless of that question, I hope that you see the beauty where ever you are right now as well as the beauty inside you.