My Graduation Message
The month of May in the Boston area means college graduations right and left. I'm no cynic, and my heart swells just a bit when I see the happy graduates and their families walking down the street. It's a time for hope, isn't it? Talk of loans and job prospects can wait for another day.
All of them will have heard encouraging commencement addresses, and most of them were probably pretty good, unless the talk was delivered by a politician -- past, present, or future. They should be banned from commencement stages, no? I guess I would make an exception to this categorical rule for Barack Obama, but that's about it.
I'm a fan of the kind of bite-sized wisdom that characterizes such occasions. Why, just a couple weeks ago I cracked open a fortune cookie to find this message within: The opposite of fear is love. Forget the mode of delivery, you honestly can't top that for insight. A whole graduation speech could revolve around that.
I feel like I could deliver a pretty good talk. The only problem is that I'm not famous or conventionally successful, so it's unlikely -- unless I get more famous or more successful pronto. But, like you, I've learned a few things along the way.
Here's something that occurred to me last week that might be good for a graduate to hear. And that is, if you commit yourself to a field or a pursuit you are passionate about, and are persistent and humble, you will inevitably encounter many of of the significant people in that field. I work in peace-related education, and after more than two decades in this arena, I recently have had the chance to work with one of the pioneers of the field, Betty Reardon. Like I said, I'm no cynic, and so I've been consciously reminding myself that I entered the field because of people like her, and that if you had told me twenty-five years ago that I would end up collaborating with her, I would said it would be a dream come true. Well, it is, and it has.
Just one related point. Like so many of the best, most accomplished people in life, Betty exhibits no trace of ego. Where is the room for ego? The goal is not to put yourself above others, but to pursue something you love and then become accomplished enough to share it with others. Look at someone like Yo Yo Ma. Arguably the finest cellist in the world, but he is unfailingly open to others, and infectious about his love for music, and for collaboration. Generosity of spirit, they call it.
So my message? Be like Betty. Be like Yo Yo Ma. And be like yourself when you let love take you to places you might only have dreamed of when you were young and starting out.
All of them will have heard encouraging commencement addresses, and most of them were probably pretty good, unless the talk was delivered by a politician -- past, present, or future. They should be banned from commencement stages, no? I guess I would make an exception to this categorical rule for Barack Obama, but that's about it.
I'm a fan of the kind of bite-sized wisdom that characterizes such occasions. Why, just a couple weeks ago I cracked open a fortune cookie to find this message within: The opposite of fear is love. Forget the mode of delivery, you honestly can't top that for insight. A whole graduation speech could revolve around that.
I feel like I could deliver a pretty good talk. The only problem is that I'm not famous or conventionally successful, so it's unlikely -- unless I get more famous or more successful pronto. But, like you, I've learned a few things along the way.
Here's something that occurred to me last week that might be good for a graduate to hear. And that is, if you commit yourself to a field or a pursuit you are passionate about, and are persistent and humble, you will inevitably encounter many of of the significant people in that field. I work in peace-related education, and after more than two decades in this arena, I recently have had the chance to work with one of the pioneers of the field, Betty Reardon. Like I said, I'm no cynic, and so I've been consciously reminding myself that I entered the field because of people like her, and that if you had told me twenty-five years ago that I would end up collaborating with her, I would said it would be a dream come true. Well, it is, and it has.
Just one related point. Like so many of the best, most accomplished people in life, Betty exhibits no trace of ego. Where is the room for ego? The goal is not to put yourself above others, but to pursue something you love and then become accomplished enough to share it with others. Look at someone like Yo Yo Ma. Arguably the finest cellist in the world, but he is unfailingly open to others, and infectious about his love for music, and for collaboration. Generosity of spirit, they call it.
So my message? Be like Betty. Be like Yo Yo Ma. And be like yourself when you let love take you to places you might only have dreamed of when you were young and starting out.
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