“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
from A Summer Day, by Mary Oliver

Recently, we had the pleasure of working with Rob Carpenter from Intel’s IT group on two video white papers. I did not work with him directly but members of my team did – and they came back from the first shoot shaking their heads in admiration. Evidently, Rob came in, sat down with the cameras rolling and just started talking about this highly technical subject. No teleprompter, no stage fright, just an authentic passion for his topic and his work. They completed the video in one take.

All we knew about the man was that he was really smart, really calm, and fantastic to work with. The second of the white paper videos is here.

He passed away suddenly, two days after recording that second video.

There is a wonderful tribute to him on the IT@Intel blog that illuminates his remarkable life (his career included District Attorney in New York City and teaching Benedictine contemplative meditation in Berkeley!). It was written by his son, whose affection and respect for his father are clear.

But it is not the man’s accomplishments that inspired me. It is the curiosity, heart, and intelligence that Rob brought to the whole of his life. Can we dive so deeply into our own lives? Can we offer what we find to the world?