Everyone Needs a Little Larry in Their Life

Dr. Lawrence Murphy was the caricature of a brilliant college professor. He was an unassuming man with thinning blond-grey hair that frequently fell onto his forehead in an unkept, Albert Einstein kind of way. He rocked the unshaven stubble before it was trendy. His clothes were always a little wrinkled and never coordinated. He was a little messy and a lot cerebral.?

Dr. Murphy was one of the toughest professors I had in college. His intellect was well above most of ours and appropriately taught a philosophy class titled Intellectual Heritage. He was also friends with one of the college administrators, for whom I worked part-time. And so, I had the privilege of spending more time with Dr. Murphy than most students.

While in the lunchroom one afternoon, I complained about the cafeteria’s re-appropriation of the left-over breakfast French toast into a grilled sandwich. This made him laugh. During lunches like these, he would share his experiences traveling overseas, his family, and his overall observations of life. He was both an old soul and ahead of his time.

While I can’t recall his exact words, which were undoubtedly more poetic than my description here, he shared his desire to write a book about coincidence. He hadn’t started it yet, but attempted to explain his vision to us, mere mortals. His book would be about how our perceptions of coincidences were incorrect, and that the universe places the opportunities for these events to happen based on a larger energy that is connected to all things.?

If you’ve paid attention to new-age personal development, spirituality, and modern thought leaders, this concept might sound familiar. It’s quite trendy now-a-days. The idea of quantum physics and our energetic connection to the universe has become a common and intriguing topic, even though the theories have been around for over one hundred years.?

But around 25 years ago, this concept was beyond comprehension to a relatively average college student. It was a little too out-there for me to fully grasp. Or perhaps I was preoccupied and overly concerned with my small space on this earth.

Whether his concepts were truly ahead of his time, or grounded in old theories of quantum mechanics, he existed on the edge of common understanding. He was simple enough to laugh at French toast jokes, but eccentric enough to make an average college student question common beliefs. Dr. Murphy makes you think a little deeper, even if it takes 25 years to get there.

Dr. Murphy was affectionately known as Larry to his academic peers. My lesson today is this:?

Everyone needs a little Larry in their life.?

Everyone needs someone who is on the edges of accepted reality to challenge your beliefs of what is real and what is possible.?

I don’t have a metaphor or lesson in career development for you today, but I write this post in the memorandum of Dr. Larry Murphy and to share that his book was finally published in 2020 titled Critical Axis: Consciousness of Choice in Times of Change. https://a.co/d/6FRFpS8?

Dr. Murphy, you are missed, but your legacy lives on. I still think about you and our preposterous conversations in the Tyler dorm cafeteria.