The Glossary has revived an 8-year-old commencement speech by author David Foster Wallace taking it from 22:00 to 9:00 while staying true to its original message.
I like this because it challenges me to become more aware of how I’m thinking and how I choose engage with what’s around me. So often, for all the reasons Wallace suggests, we can get stuck in pattern of being – or “default” – that assumes it is all about us.
Though some detract from the author’s message because he committed suicide three years after this speech – there are many kernels of truth in this message that ring true regardless of his story: we are not the center of the Universe, we have the ability to choose how we engage our own circumstances, we can choose to recognize the gifting of others and their situations, this world is mysterious, wonderful, hard, and sometimes boring, often beautiful place.
What are your thoughts on this? Are you aware of the water around you?
Here’s the full version of the 2005 Kenyon College Commencement Speech by David Foster Wallace.
