Monday, May 10, 2010

speech!

So, I normally refrain buying into the mass graduation hysteria and hype that comes every year around this time. Even my own graduations never seemed very important to me. I don't know, is it not the process that really matters?

That said, I can never turn away from a good graduation speech. There aren't very many, in my opinion, but every once in a while a speaker will just WOW me with short, often simple and common sensical, snippets of wisdom that just work.

Here are some excerpts from Steve Jobs' commencement speech at Stanford in 2005. Consider me WOWed.

"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

"You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

"Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

Because, yes. Sometimes that's just it. Yes. I'm taking it. I hope it strikes someone else as much as it did me today.

The things that are good for you get better with time, they don't erode. That's my favorite part. I've hardly lived enough conscious, understanding life to really be able to see this in practice, but I believe I'm witnessing it in progress in a few areas of my life, and it's true. Why wouldn't the real things just grow the longer you're with them? And why should the flimsy stuff not weaken with time, too? It just makes good sense. Maybe some things will surprise me.

I'm thinking soon is a good day to take up the ukulele. This will be my next short-term goal.

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