Anna Quindlen, you are just too darn cool.
Thanks for these super cool stamps Jenn. Edited: Those great stamps are from Wordstworth.
I was looking through my quote files tonight and came across this commencement speech made by author Anna Quindlen that I had seen/read earlier this year. I think it also appears in her book: A Short Guide To A Happy Life. Seems like a good time of year to share it:
I am a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know.
Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work.
You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree; there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life.
Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul.
People don't talk about soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to craft a resume than craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort on a winter night, or when your sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've gotten back the test results and they're not so good.
Here is my resume:
I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say.
I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cutout. But I call them on the phone, and I meet them for lunch.
I would be rotten, or at best mediocre, at my job if these things were not true. You cannot really be first rate at your work, if your work is all you are.
So, here is what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so much for those things if you blew an aneurysm one day, or found a lump in your breast?
Get a life in which you notice the smell of the salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights, a life in which you stop and watch how a red tailed hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and first finger.
Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone, send an email, write a letter.
Get a life in which you are generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about the goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beers and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a Big Brother or Sister.
It is so easy to exist instead of to live. I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get.
I learned to look at all the good in the world and to try to give some of it back, because I believe in it, completely and utterly. And I tried to do that in part, by telling others what I learned. By telling them this:
Consider the lilies of the field.
Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear.
Read in the backyard with the sun on your face.
Learn to be happy.
And think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion, as it ought to be lived.
Anna Quindlen, you are just too darn cool.
Anna Quindlen is darn cool. And so are you, Ali Edwards. Thanks for sharing the words of inspriration! Best wishes for much joy in the year ahead.
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I was lucky enough to see Anna Quindlen speak at DuPage County College a few years ago... what an amazing experience. She's even cooler in person! She so gut wrenchingly straightforward and honest that you can't help but be really impressed by her. Smart. Not afraid to be smart. Just the coolest. I'm like a little kid every other week when her op-ed piece in Newsweek comes out... She's amazing. Thanks for sharing this. Hadn't thought of it in a while.
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Learn to be happy. I like that. I think sometimes I'm waiting for the happy. Like its supposed to smack me in the head.
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wow that is cool. my dh is losing his job this week but we are just going to go with the flow..whatever happens happens ya know. i am so not stressing over it..(yet..lol)this is just what i needed to read..i will pass it on to him!
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What a great perspective. I need to get that book...
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This Anna, she's a smart cookie. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks so much for sharing. Very inspirational. I now have this book on hold at the library:)
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Definitely a very cool quote and a great time to share it. Thanks for that!
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Wow! Thanks for sharing this wisdom,those amazing words, those beautiful thoughts on life.
-peace, Pam
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Wow - beautiful! I always love her words.
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Ali, i always get so excited inside when you've updated your blog (terribly addicting). tonight's entry is just the coolest. wow.
thank you.
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Where does one find such cool stamps?? Great quote. Thanks for sharing!
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Ali, thank you! I so needed that today. It is just perfect for me at this very moment! You ROCK!
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Indeed way cool stamps -- and awesome, wonderful, uplifting speech --thanks for sharing!
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stamps are great but the rest is awesome!!! so true and what a woman to tell it like this! thanks Ali for sharing this with us!
corinnexxx
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thanks for the awesome inspiration!! and where can i get those adorable stamps??!!
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"It is so easy to exist instead of to live. I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get."
I loved reading these words this morning. It gave me a whole new perspective for my day, my week and the new year. Thanks Ali, I needed that!
Melissa
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loved this passage - thanks for sharing. put up on my blog today inspired by yours: From Kobi Yamada's LIVE GOOD compilation: LIVE WHILE YOU LIVE. "Not to go out and do your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine. So now I'm off to "get a life in which I do my best". Happy Wednesday to you!
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Wow. That touched me today. Thanks for sharing that.
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needed to read this. thanks ali..it's perfect! miley
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um...wow...talking about something that really speaks to the heart! amazing words!
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thank you so much for sharing this, ali!
wow--she certainly said it all.
i am going to share this with so many people.
love it.
you are always such an inspiration, ali!
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Wow! That is an awesome except...really gave me something to think about. I've shared it with all of my family & friends. Thanks for sharing...what an inspiration!
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Have mercy!!! That whole passage gave me enough quotes for the month of January! Thank you for sharing and that was something I really needed and enjoyed reading. Simply awesome.
By the way, those stamps are rather snazzy!
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Ali - Thank you for posting this - it helps remind me that pursing my passion, my masters degree and working like a crazy person is all worth it if I allow myself to appreciate and recognize the blessings I have been given. I want to remember this every day - even more I want to live this every day.
Thank you Ali and thank you Anna Quindlen!
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