Joy
If genius has any core component, it is probably the experience
of joy. Ask some of the great minds of our time to explain what
motivates them in their work and generally you will not hear them
talk about pay checks or even the Nobel Prize (though these
certainly have their allure). More often they may speak somewhat
mystically of an experience that sounds like joy. Young children
may not be as articulate, but if they could speak about what
motivates them in their most passionate play experiences they
would probably speak of 'o (they speak of it anyway through their
sparkling eyes, their bouncing bodies, and their squeals of
delight). As Piaget once wrote: "On seeing a baby joyfully
watching the movements of his feet, one has the impression of the
joy felt by a god in directing from a distance the movement of
the stars."
Joy is something mysterious that cooks up from deep inside of
us when a new connection has been made, a new insight obtained, a
new feat accomplished, or a skill mastered. Such joy can be
witnessed in the brilliant grin of a high school student who
witnesses the invention that he's been toiling on for the past
several weeks finally work for the first time. joy is in the 7th
grader who twirls across the stage in the school musical. joy
shows itself in the lst grader who jumps up and down after
reading his first story. The neurochemistry of the joy of
teaming is still unclear-it might have something to do with
neuronal connections stimulating a release of neuropeptides into
the nervous system. But however it occurs, its importance cannot
be underestimated. Without joy, learning is soda pop without the
fizzle - flat and tasteless.
Return to 12 Qualities
Return to top
Return to I am