A Life Changing Speech
Recently, I came across the truly extraordinary commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace. It was such a great Silver Lining end to this incredibly busy summer, one that has been full of groceries and checkout lanes (the reference will make sense when you watch the video).
David Foster Wallace begins the speech with a story: two young fish meet an older fish, who asks them “How’s the water?” The younger fish look at each other and say, “What the hell is water?” Foster Wallace explains the story this way:
The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about. Stated as an English sentence, of course, this is just a banal platitude, but the fact is that in the day to day trenches of adult existence, banal platitudes can have a life or death importance.
In the video below, “This is Water,” The Glossary—“fine purveyors of stimulating videograms”—take an abridged version of the original audio recording and set it to a series of provocative images.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiyY4t7WbnU
This all about the work of choosing: what to think and what to pay attention to. Wallace believes – as do I! – that if we are aware enough to give ourselves a choice, then we can choose to think differently. The thing of it is that choosing takes a great deal of will & effort.
From the moment of my diagnosis, this has been my Silver Lining philosophy. What I now know for sure is that when we look at a situation in its entirety, we have options – choices – how about how are going to respond: from a place of fear or a place of optimism. Yes, this even applies to the grocery store line.
This is definitely a game changer.
Powerful. Thanks for the reminder.
Absolutely!
I'm so glad you posted this, Hollye. I heard the speech once before and I love it. I remember thinking at first that it was very odd and not very inspiring for a commencement speech, but now I wonder if those students realized how lucky they were to have a speaker like that. I'll try even more to keep it in my daily thoughts now that you've brought it to mind again.
I hope that the students – or at least some of them! – appreciated it. And if not then, perhaps they will now! Thanks for your note, Victoria.
It was a great speech! Telling the graduates to choose to use their developed critical thinking skills; to be more aware that they can choose what their perception of, or reactions to a set of circumstances or events will be. The power to think and to choose keeps the power in your court.
Also this video reminds me to ask you, Hollye, when we might be seeing another video from you?
So glad you liked it, Carolee.
Thanks so much for asking about more videos…working on them now (in my spare time – ha!).
The speech and how it was set to images is beautiful. How sad that the man who wrote those words lost his perspective and took his own life. From what I understand depression stole his ability to choose life.
So true, Carla. So very true. Thank you for writing!
Such a powerful message and timely as we are all in our back to school routine and it is a true silver lining to be reminded to look at life in a different way when feeling overwhelmed by monotony…. Thanks Hollye!