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published on 04/16/2005
Hats off…to Mr. Holland’s Opus
By
sigmtn.com staff writer
Some of you may be familiar with the movie, “Mr. Holland’s Opus” starring Richard Dreyfuss which played in movie theatres around 10 years ago. This is the story of the life of a man, who believes his life’s work is to compose a memorable piece of music. To support his family he becomes a teacher at a high school as the music/orchestra/band director spanning four decades.
What was Mr. Holland’s opus, his life’s work? Was it the beautiful piece of music he composed or was it his legacy as a teacher? Ancient philosophers believed that at the very moment we are hard at work on some worldly endeavor, we are also working on a different plane. According to Thomas Moore, “The job and the opus are related insofar as work is an extension or reflection of yourself.”
Isn’t that true for most of us? Our “job” at the Signal Mountain Mirror is to do exactly what the title says – to “mirror” or reflect back to the communities a piece of your lives. On the one level we are busy at work, attending meetings, reporting on stories, collecting pictures, receiving emails, faxes, telephone calls, and hearing about stories to cover next month and so on – all of which, on another plane, is the opus, or the work of the people in our communities.
What is important for us to keep in mind is that all work is a vocation. When you see an article in the Signal Mountain Mirror and it touches your heart whether it’s a familiar face, your own story, a picture of your child or grandchild, or it stirs a memory from long ago; then we are doing our job.
On behalf of the staff at the Signal Mountain Mirror, I would like to thank the many people – parents, teachers, students, grandparents, town officials, organizations, residents, and other individuals who contribute, write, and report the stories that are our opus. On a personal note, I want to thank Dr. Joe Dumas for covering the Town of Signal Mountain Council Meeting in February in my absence.
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