Thursday, January 17, 2008

Beautiful Lies

On such "beautiful lies" are dreams built - Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food

Corby Kimmer reported those words in the Jan/Feb issue of The Atlantic and it engaged the old brainpan.

The post title refers to those, like Petrini, who express a somewhat wild and improbable hope (say, the Rockies will win the National League pennant) through the use of "beautiful lies."

Saying that New Albany's downtown is coming back from the dead is one of those beautiful lies, and I'm sure you can provide many other examples.

It's not that those expressions of hope are untruths. They aren't. A beautiful lie can come true, as Petrini has proved again and again.

I'll observe that the only way such beautiful lies come true is if first someone expresses that wild and improbable hope. New Albany is blessed with a growing group of individuals who are expressing them. What's more, these individuals are making the necessary commitment to growing their networks, doing the research, and engaging the imaginations of their peers.

In the coming months, expect to hear more of those expressions from people who know they aren't, in fact, lies, but achievable dreams.

One City. One Destiny.

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