Observations of a Seemingly Simple Building

Walk in and it's like you get hit with a ton of bricks.  The first time I was at the LDS Institute of Religion on campus at ASU it was like I had set foot on an alien planet.  Although, I suppose most of us feel like an outsider when we first find ourselves thrown into a new place.

This was different from any building I had ever been in on campus.  There were people buzzing around like happy bees in every room you enter.  I found myself sitting down on a balcony that overlooked the main entrance hall just to catch my breath.

At first all my senses could take in were the visual cues that surrounded me.  There were many alcove-like places in the building where there were chairs and benches to sit.  These seemed slightly ironic in my opinion, as it seemed that the fluctuation of people who populated the building at any given time seemed to have too much energy to sit.  The decorations consisted of religious paintings that explained the purpose of the building, and lots of plants to give the place a very comforting and welcoming feel.

I noticed quickly that the building had an air of peacefulness about it that was strangely out of place at first. How, with so much commotion present, could a building be peaceful?  So I stopped focusing on the visual so much and began to listen.  As a group of girls approached, ascending the stairs directly below me, I honed in on their conversation.

"I'm engaged!" one exclaimed, and the others, obviously friends of the girl, began to giggle.

The conversation continued, full of lighthearted comments, and eventually led to the declaration from another girl in the group: "I'm pregnant!"  Following this she was congratulated and a friend proclaimed that the pregnant girl was so lucky to have an amazing husband like Andrew, and the group was on their way.

I walked back down stairs to the main entrance area and was surrounded by many more joyful conversations such as this one.  Boys commented on "the great game Johnny played the other night" and I even witnessed a blushing brunette getting asked on a date by a handsome boy she had probably had her eye on for weeks.  As I walked past an open set of double doors I saw a gym where a group of boys were playing basketball.  I proceeded down a maze of hallways, each lined with doors each pouring light out of the door frames.  Once I had made a full circle through the building, passing a game room filled with social people with big smiles, I paused.  Not once while I was here did I feel the weight of my worries.  Nobody around me was frowning.  What was it that made everyone here so giddy?

I am now a regular visitor of this place, and I am becoming more and more convinced that it is not only the building that makes the people happy, but the happy people that make the building such an enjoyable, peaceful place to explore.