So, if you don't already know, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling delivered this year's commencement speech to the graduating class at Harvard. Although she spoke June 5, it's taken me awhile to really read and digest her speech, which I think is brilliant even though some Harvard snobs may disagree. I'm going to blog about it in a few separate posts, to let the brilliance last...
In the speech, Rowling talked about the benefits of failure, and how, when she graduated from college, she struggled with her personal ambitions vs. the path her family wanted her to follow. Rowling knew -- she KNEW -- that she wanted to be a novel writer. She was lucky enough to identify her dream. But she didn't follow it, at least not at first, because her family wanted her to choose a more secure profession.
(Now, take a second, and imagine the world devoid of Rowling's imagination? Imagine a world without Harry Potter? I mean, even if you don't like the series, at least respect it for how it's helped encourage millions of children to READ instead of text or MySpace.)
Luckily for us, she found a way to get back to her core, even if it meant personal struggle. With a failed marriage, no job and barely any money, she was probably told -- repeatedly and by everyone she knew -- that she should get a job, any job, even if it meant sacrificing her dreams. I mean, at that point she even had a kid, so she had EVERYTHING TO LOSE.
But her passion screamed so loudly inside of her, it couldn't be ignored. And because she chose to stay true to herself, we have a world where J.K. Rowling is an incredible author and not a secretary. Not that there's anything wrong with being a secretary. It just wasn't her path.
She says it best here:
Yes, J.K., yes. Because anyone suffering from Octopus Syndrome knows that by flailing around, trying to be everything you think you are supposed to be, you leave no room, spirit or time for what you DESIRE to be, at your deepest self.
I vote we start stripping away the inessential. Now.
In the speech, Rowling talked about the benefits of failure, and how, when she graduated from college, she struggled with her personal ambitions vs. the path her family wanted her to follow. Rowling knew -- she KNEW -- that she wanted to be a novel writer. She was lucky enough to identify her dream. But she didn't follow it, at least not at first, because her family wanted her to choose a more secure profession.
(Now, take a second, and imagine the world devoid of Rowling's imagination? Imagine a world without Harry Potter? I mean, even if you don't like the series, at least respect it for how it's helped encourage millions of children to READ instead of text or MySpace.)
Luckily for us, she found a way to get back to her core, even if it meant personal struggle. With a failed marriage, no job and barely any money, she was probably told -- repeatedly and by everyone she knew -- that she should get a job, any job, even if it meant sacrificing her dreams. I mean, at that point she even had a kid, so she had EVERYTHING TO LOSE.
But her passion screamed so loudly inside of her, it couldn't be ignored. And because she chose to stay true to herself, we have a world where J.K. Rowling is an incredible author and not a secretary. Not that there's anything wrong with being a secretary. It just wasn't her path.
She says it best here:
"...Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free...and so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."
Yes, J.K., yes. Because anyone suffering from Octopus Syndrome knows that by flailing around, trying to be everything you think you are supposed to be, you leave no room, spirit or time for what you DESIRE to be, at your deepest self.
I vote we start stripping away the inessential. Now.
I second the motion.
Posted by: Jacqueline | June 14, 2008 at 01:10 PM