Things That Only Make Sense Looking Backwards
April 1, 2009 in inspirational
You know, I used to hate when people would tell me, “It’ll all make sense later,” when you’re asking them about why certain things are happening and what you’re supposed to do.
I always thought it was so condescending and annoying, but I really think it’s one of the truest statements about life. Life tosses you all these obstacles and decisions that you need to make, and it’s up to you to figure out how to deal.
At my previous job, I used to always wear headphones and listen to music or youtube while I worked. It was the one thing that kept me sane because I felt like the creative part of me was being fed through music, comedy videos and inspirational speeches. I think I listened to the below video of Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech about 342 times.
I actually counted. No joke. But it’s so odd because the first part of the speech really relates to my life now. He talks about how he dropped out of Reed College and tried to figure out what to do with his life. So he slept in his friends’ rooms and took a calligraphy class.
He says, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in the future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
This is sort of the reason why I made the leap to be doing what I’m doing now. I think I brainwashed myself by listening to this speech so many times. Is that possible?
Hey Kat:
Great post. Great speech. I have this video in my ipod and I’ve heard it again as recently as this past weekend.
You’re doing creative things via this blog, your other writing gigs, scripts, taco bell spots, etc. Keep that up.
I feel though that minus the auditioning process (where you’re usually at the mercy of the auditioning times you’re given), there is always time to exercise those other creative outlets. Soon you’ll also miss those “day job” jitters. Days, weeks, months will go by where suddenly you’ll be like: “WTF?” I need to do something other than be stuck in my own head all day. That’s sometimes the maddening curse of the creative mind as well.
Whatever happens I’m sure you’ll be okay. Keep your spirits up and your heart will lead you where you need to be.
have a great rest of the week!
cap
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[...] wrote a blog post in 2009 about how I used to continuously watch Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Speech because I was [...]