Over the past 48 hours, I was tasked at work with accompanying Arthur Brooks to each of his many scheduled events at the University of Utah, simply to photograph each event. He had six keynotes in those 48 hours, and for all intents and purposes, I was supposed to be invisible; a fly on the wall with a camera in hand.
It could have been easy to lose focus after hearing nearly identical lectures six times over, but as I listened to Dr. Brooks deliver his keynotes on repeat, with precise alterations for each new audience, something unexpected happened. What could have easily become background noise turned into a lesson pressed into me time and again.
Dr. Brooks, a professor at Harvard and a visiting Impact Scholar at the University of Utah, teaches that happiness is not a fleeting feeling but the result of a life built with intention. He describes it as the product of four elements: meaningful work, deep relationships, a sense of faith and the habits that sustain them. It’s not luck or circumstance; it’s work, and it’s within our grasp to obtain for ourselves.
Listening to those six lectures, Dr. Brooks made clear that the core to happiness is one thing: love. It may sound obvious, but love sustains and deepens relationships. Love opens the door to faith (religious or not) and helps us accept the mystery of the unknown. Love is not sentimental or soft; it is effort, discipline and the decision to value others as much as ourselves.
This realization could not come at a more urgent time. Our nation is deeply divided, and with the shocking political assassination of Charlie Kirk, we can be tempted to divide ourselves even more as political agendas lock horns attempting to dominate the other. Regardless of political belief, in moments like these, it is easy to reach for anger, resentment and division. But as Dr. Brooks reminds us, and as my own reflection deepened, the only way forward is through love.
Dr. Brooks stated multiple times over these past two days that he believes that Utah has an opportunity to lead the country, and even the world, through positive and healing change in this very moment. I agree with Dr. Brooks: Utah is in the spotlight, and I believe that we have an opportunity to react with change, with hard work, and by choosing to love and uplift our neighbors regardless of political beliefs.
The world is looking to Utah, a state with people of all beliefs and views. Will we fail to correct the habits of continual division, or will we choose to do the hard work that will lead us to enlightenment and happiness by choosing to unite together against hatred and division? What if we chose to love, not in spite of disagreement but through it? What if we decided, together, to see dignity in those whose views challenge our own? What if we changed and committed to love?
This is not naïve idealism. It is the hardest kind of work. It requires discipline in how we speak, humility in how we listen and patience in how we live with difference … and it is also the path to happiness, not just individually but also collectively.
As a fly on the wall, I saw how one man could deliver a consistent message of hope and be received by six very different audiences. Each time, the core truth resonated. Happiness is not comfort or success alone. It is the fruit of choosing love, again and again, in work, in relationships, in faith and even in the way we disagree.
Our nation is at a crossroads. We can respond to tragedy with more anger and more hate, or we can be trailblazers for something better. The choice is ours: Will we let division define us, or will we build a society rooted in love?
If happiness is enlightenment, then love is its foundation. And perhaps the lesson of this week, pressed into me over six lectures, is that we already know the way forward, we only need the courage to live it.