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ON TO WHAT’S NEXT...

Very few go astray who comport themselves with

restraint.

—CONFUCIUS

’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.
What’s essential is invisible to the eye.
The quote that hung on Fred Rogers’s wall was actually only a
partial quote. The rest appears in The Little Prince, the beautiful and
surreal children’s book by the French aviator and World War II hero
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In it, the fox tells the little boy, “Here is
my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see
rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
First, we sought mental clarity. But quickly we realized that the
soul must be in equally good order if we wish to achieve stillness. In
concert with each other—clarity in the mind and in the soul—we find
both excellence and unbreakable tranquility. It is with the heart and
soul that we are able to surface important things that the eyes need
to see.
Examining our souls is not as easy as clearing our minds, you’ll
find. It requires that we peel back what the writer Mark Manson has
called the “self-awareness onion” and take responsibility for our own
emotions and impulses. Anyone who’s done it can tell you that tears
and onions often go together.
But it’s precisely this soft stuff—getting in touch with ourselves,
finding balance and meaning, cultivating virtue—that the volleyball