aes·thet·ic or es·thet·ic    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  ( s-tht  k)adj.ÂÂ
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I realized today on the way into work that I care a lot about aesthetics. This is something that has been lying beneath the surface and I appreciate that I can try and articulate it here on my blog. It must be my penchant for having things in the right place and looking right, but I care about how things look. Now, this may seem a bit shallow - but these things matter. Do you see things that are out of place? Do you arrange things in a way that make sense?
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A few examples - the bathrooms at my work are old. The building I work in is from the 1960’s and the bathrooms have not been updated since then. No matter how hard our people try - the bathrooms do not seem very pristine because they are worn out. So I think about the person who vists our school for the first time and sees a dingy bathroom. Maybe some folks wouldn’t notice, but some will - and it kills me when a small thing can leave a big impression.ÂÂ
In my office when I moved in I had a desk that was 30 years old and the legs fell off when they moved it out of here. There were no pictures on the walls and the office felt very utilitarian. There were file folders hanging from the walls, and it felt like a government office. During the past three years we have been putting pictures up, redecorating and I was able to get a new desk. I also put up a Monet print over my desk, and some other pictures as well. We are Admissions, and you never get a second chance to make a first impression. So - we cannot blow it when someone is visiting our school.ÂÂ
Aesthetics are things that you do not always notice, but you sure as heck will when they are out of place. I am going to develop this topic more in coming weeks, but suffice it to say - these things are important to me.ÂÂ
JVD
Joe,
Your reach with strength finders is incredible. I was just in Chicago with my wife visiting some of her friends. They had just been to Origins and took the strength finders there. I assume you were part of that stuff. They were all pumped about knowing their strengths and all that good stuff!
John -
Thanks for stopping by…What was really cool is that Gallup & Mosaic gave everyone who came to the conference StrengthsFinder as part of the package. I led a group of pastors through it as part of the International Mentoring Network. I am happy to be a little piece of a grand picture of a strengths revolution.
It is fun to be a part of.
JVD
jvd- great to meet you face to face. it looked like the bethel booth was pretty busy. hope it was a fruitful week of work and ministry for you. do you know if the SF books we used at Origins are available for purchase?
Terry-
We try and look busy! : )
I may know more about your question after I meet with the Gallup representative from Faith & Practice - my guess is yes, they are available - how is the question.
JVD
JVD- I take some heat on my blog sometimes when I write about this stuff but I think you are so right. When people come into a new situation the first impression they get is critical for whether or not they will return. In a school or in a church we need to be aware that people are making up their minds about us before they even talk to us. Keep up the good blogging buddy. I’m linking this at my blog. Peace.