For the dreamers

Most people know a famous tune by Mr. John Lennon where he describes the world he imagines. "Nothing to kill or die for", "all the people living life in peace", "the world will live as one". I don't know why that was in my head, but it was. It ends up being somewhat applicable. Maybe.

Video of the day - JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure (http://www.ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_fringe_benefits_of_failure.html) [You can start at 3:07 if you want to skip her introduction]

Thumbnail quote - [not provided for this video] This isn't actually a 'normal' TED video, but a commencement speech given by Ms. Rowling that was posted on the TED website.

Why I chose this video - Because I love Harry Potter. Seriously. The first book came out when I was in late-elementary and I remember waiting anxiously for each sequential novel, needing to know NOW what happened to Harry and his friends. Love or hate the book (or premise), I think she is a great writer and I was intrigued to hear what she would give as advice to new graduates. There is so much wisdom in the generations above my own, wisdom that I think is often scoffed away by people my own age. I would like to learn from the mistakes of others and this talk seemed to be about something I fear greatly - failure.

Summary - Ms. Rowling is speaking to Harvard graduates - hardly your run-of-the-mill graduation, but I think her advice remains applicable. Her speech comes in two major parts: 1) She begins by talking about how failure is inevitable (*gulp*) and how she spent many years as a quote-unquote 'failure'. After a failed marriage, she was a single-mom with no money to speak of, and no real career, just a dream to write a novel. But she talks about how her failure, although incredibly dark and painful, forced her to stop pretending to be anything but herself, and she was able to discover a determination she didn't know she possessed. Rowling states, "... rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life." She states that everyone will fail at some points (unless you live so cautiously that you never truly live), but you can choose to use failure as a door, as an illuminator, as a set of lessons you couldn't learn any other way.
2) The importance of imagination: Rowling spent her early graduate years working for Amnesty International (AI) in London. She speaks about being introduced to the horrors that humans are capable of inflicting on one another in a brutal battle for power, about being reminded of how fortunate she was to live where she did. However, she also loved how AI used the power of human empathy moved to action to change the lives of others. "Unlike any other creature on this planet, human beings can learn without ever having experienced ... if you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages - then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped change. We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already. We have the power to imagine better."

My Take-Away - As it pertains to failure, this is a topic I do not like. I hate to be wrong (just ask anyone who knows me!). I despise the thought of future failures. Regardless, it is an inevitable part of life - JK is certainly right about that. But choosing and learning to use the darkness to conquer fears, find yourselves, and start over is a powerful thought that I hope will hold me through my most inconsequential and momentous failures.
The second portion of the talk seems to follow my most recent theme. The most powerful line for me was this: "Those who choose not to empathize enable real monsters ... we collude with it through our own apathy." I would rather fail, and fail dramatically, than succumb to the seductress known as apathy. Perhaps it is less painful to shut out the unhappy and negative that this world offers so readily and endlessly in such copious amounts, but how much less of a person would I be without my compassion? To be both aware of the world around you and empathetic can be a heavy burden - but that's where imagination comes in. John Lennon imagined. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. Gandhi believed in being the embodiment of change. Nelson Mandela cherished ideas of equality and freedom. It goes on and on.

My imagination is plenty active. Give me a problem, I'll give you a dream. If we all dreamt together, couldn't we fix so much of the wrong?