Well, I'm feeling much better today. Steve Jobs died today, and that's not why I'm feeling better, but Steve Jobs has had an influence on me today. I had never heard his Commencement Speech at Stanford until today, because the news has been playing clips of it on repeat. This part really hit home for me:
"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
It's true. I am not a lawyer. I suck at standardized tests and I hate competition at school. I come from a creative writing curriculum, where everyone sits around a room and "workshops" eachother's manuscripts. It's commeraderie, not competition. (Although getting published is highly competitive, we support eachother in class.) And I like that. I want to stay in school forever - I prefer it to the real world most of the time. I am happiest in a creative writing workshop. That's where my heart is, so that's where I belong. I don't want to look back on my life, and say, "Wow, I really did what I thought I should do," I want to look back and say, "Wow, I did everything I wanted to do." Rest in Peace, Jobs.
"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
It's true. I am not a lawyer. I suck at standardized tests and I hate competition at school. I come from a creative writing curriculum, where everyone sits around a room and "workshops" eachother's manuscripts. It's commeraderie, not competition. (Although getting published is highly competitive, we support eachother in class.) And I like that. I want to stay in school forever - I prefer it to the real world most of the time. I am happiest in a creative writing workshop. That's where my heart is, so that's where I belong. I don't want to look back on my life, and say, "Wow, I really did what I thought I should do," I want to look back and say, "Wow, I did everything I wanted to do." Rest in Peace, Jobs.
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