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Clearly I’m a bit delayed to express appreciation for this lovely commencement speech J.K. Rowling gave at a Harvard graduation ceremony last year… but I believe this loveliness is of the timeless variety (<– wow, how’s that for making up for having a 13-month delay in my expression of gratitude??)
“Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s places.
Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathize.
And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.
I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces leads to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.”
“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”
(emphasis added)
As I’ve mentioned before, my mother tells me I have the “courage to interrogate reality.” As much as one’s personality can be described in a statement, this one is fairly undeniable for me.
Last weekend I met my father and step-mother in Half Moon Bay as they began their week-long Harley ride “wherever they feel like riding to on any given day” and it got me thinking ~ my adventurous side (err… middle) is not only ingrained in my lil’ self, but most decidedly, inherited. I was basically born with a paradoxical sense of knowingness and curiosity which propels me to places I’ve never been and yet places in which I feel very much at home.
While there are vast variations on my adventurous roots, here’s a glimpse at a few that I’m sincerely grateful for:
Adventure of the Imagination: This comes from both parents. What I love though is that they are both very grounded individuals ~ I wouldn’t label either of them “dreamers” but I would certainly say that they make their dreams happen in their lives. And this ventures fairly far back in the family trees: My mother’s grandfather was an inventor ~ he had an airplane/landing strip at his home and apparently had Charles Lindbergh as a buddy. My grandfather on my father’s side had a mine in the mountains outside of Yosemite then purchased an entire railroad and community because he liked it there (so did I! This is where I grew up.). My mom was accepted into the San Francisco Ballet at the age of 16 (she politely declined) and my father became a race-car driver. I come from a long line of practical dreamers.
Adventures in Travel: Again, this comes from both parents. Mom is more of the “hotel in Paris/Nice/London/Tuscany” type and dad is more “ride the Harley and stop at an Inn on the coast whenever we feel like stopping” kind of traveler. I have heaping doses of both approaches… though that’s not to imply I ride a Harley when I travel. I’m a spontaneous planner, I suppose.
Adventures in People: I love people’s stories. Adore them. Why are they the way they are? Where have they been? What have they seen? What shaped them? Influenced them? I think my mom is a people explorer but she’s not really one to ask questions. She’d rather have people share whatever it is they want to share. My dad is a bit more of a “I’ll join you wherever you’re coming from” sort of story-listener. Both are empathetic listeners in their own way… I am straight out an empathic, curious, and voracious listener of people stories.
Any way you look at it, I’ve got Adventurous Roots. How can I not with a father who looks like this?
Whenever Ennui sets in, as I mentioned it was, I hunker down and do what I can to keep my center strong and flexible (a seeming paradox!) and as conscious of my breathing as possible (Inhale…Exhale…Inhale…Exhale…). Also, when I have days like yesterday where the environment of high tension (declining economy at the core) causes ego-based fear to rule, I admit that I came home with bright red splotches over my chest and feeling like my forehead was going to melt over my eyes in an effort to shut down the anxiety. (By the way– it should be said that I am not complaining but rather expressing how I feel in the moment. I am in no way complaining– I am grateful to have such a terrific job!)
Anyway, when I’m in hunker-down mode, I return to my trusted sources for inspiration to power through. Wayne Dyer is one of those people I turn to. I’ve met him and have heard him speak several times and truly enjoy his message that comes out in an honest, sincere, humorous, grounded, enlightened but simple way. I visited his daily inspiration page and saw this:
USE your imagination! I love it. This is exactly what I wanted to be reminded of. It’s “the concept of Spirit within” us. Beautiful.
