June 20, 2011
Last Friday, I had the immense privilege to deliver the 2011 commencement speech to graduates at Art Institute San Francisco. I must admit that the process of writing (and delivering) a speech was a bit daunting. Although I secretly love speaking opportunities, the butterflies I get in my stomach make the monarch migration at Natural Bridges seem like batting eyelashes!
So leading up to the event, I spent hours preparing. I became a commencement speech junkie, researching graduation addresses by everyone from Reverend Anne Howard to Conan O’Brien. But as it came down to the wire, I found myself having both nothing and too much to say. I was having bouts of insecurity, making up stories about why I shouldn’t be delivering a commencement address: “I’m not qualified to speak to this group. I haven’t even gone to art school!”
And yet, somewhere deep inside, I believed in myself. You see, I had said yes to this opportunity in a most sincere moment of exhilaration and of being scared shitless (excuse my language, but it’s the most accurate description). It was because of that exact combination of feelings that I knew I had to say yes! Saying yes in such moments aligns with my personal values and the HopeLab values I have come to love: continual learning & growth and courageous experimentation.
So the big day came and went, and what I ended up saying was more or less what you see below. I’ve also offered a few reflections at the end of this post.
—
i have two confessions and one prophesy to share:
confession #1
i am a procrastinator. i know you never wait until the very last minute to finish something like a senior portfolio. well, i re-wrote and finished this speech last night and practiced it on my way up to the city this morning. thank goodness for a long commute!
confession #2
i have almost no recollection of who my commencement speaker was (except that he was a man…..i think.) if i can’t remember his face, i definitely don’t remember the words that came out of that face.
and here’s my one prophesy
none of you will remember what i said today, and it’s likely that you’ll forget what i look like while you’re clapping for me as i move off stage.
and that’s OK.
i have no ego about this because it happens to every commencement speaker regardless of who you are. you could have been the president of the united states or created some social networking site called facebook. it happens to all of us. i said yes to being forgettable.
well, unless this speech gets memorialized on youtube and goes viral….but that’s highly unlikely since i’m not conan o’brien and i don’t have his luscious wave.
so my plan was to have you figure out your own graduation advice as you step into this
BIG
HAIRY
REJECTION-FILLED
MYSTERIOUS
WORLD.
are you game?
to help you, i even pulled a quote from someone older and wiser. writer anne lamott who wrote traveling mercies (which I have not read) said, “I want to tell you that what you’re looking for is already inside you.” “…what you’re looking for is already inside you.”
for me, that means exploring what dwells inside my heart.
so i’m going to lead us through something potentially awkward.
i want you to take the next minute to sit in silence and consider the question, “What does your heart say?”
to help you, i had little pieces of paper printed out with that very question, thanks to dean clark.
(and you thought i was a procrastinator. …… …. … i still am.)
all of you should have received it in your program.
now take the next minute to feel your way through that question and respond in all honesty.
write it down,
doodle it,
draw it,
capture it, in whatever way you know best.
there is no right or wrong and only one of you will be called on stage for a group critique.
what does your heart say?
[one minute pause for reflection]
now, for the next two minutes, i want you turn to your neighbor and share what you captured. you may never see them again, or you might be having lunch with them…regardless, share it with boldness!
[two minute pause for sharing]
i did this exercise with you of course, and this is what i wrote:
“coffee in the morning before eating will give you the shakes.” ;-P (he he)
what you expressed on that small piece of paper will go with you. my face and name will fade, but our procrastination habit will never fade.
do the hard work of listening to your heart every day. and do the even harder work of following it. i guarantee there will be huge risk and deep joy when you follow your heart.
follow your heart.
follow your heart with all courage and discipline.
follow your heart.
remember that “what your’re looking for is already inside you,” and has always been with you, so it will remain in you.
and if you find that you have lost sight…. it will always be there.
follow your heart.
congratulations to a job very well done!
—
I came out of this experience with a few points of clarity:
1. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch
2. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain, in living courageously and wholeheartedly.
3. Richard, Chris, and Tom are fabulous cheerleaders!
I’m curious, do you remember your commencement speaker(s)? If so, what do you remember about what they said?
xo
-Liz
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