Today My Life Begins
It’s that time of year where we embrace a fresh season while thousands of students sit in perfect rows wearing silly caps anxiously enduring a few words from a notable dignitary encumbering their anticipated celebration.
The commencement address. A time honored rite of passage for most of us. We all know, there is a general formula to a good graduation speech — focus on the graduates’ accomplishments, talk about the value of their educational experiences, let them know they have a new-found wisdom to take on the world, uplift them, throw in some advice and sprinkle in some humor.
Many of these words are quickly forgotten, especially by the anxious graduates. Some gain status as part of the American zeitgeist. I remember David Foster Wallace’s This is Water making its way around the internet. Maybe you remember a tidbit from one of these addresses. There was even advice from Mary Schmich to Wear Sunscreen, that was never given as an address, though it became urban legend that Kurt Vonnegut addressed MIT in 1997.
We’ve heard enough of these addresses to know that commencement means a beginning. While I always understood this fundamentally, it truly resonated with me when Dr. Ronnie Green addressed UNL graduates. As he commences on his next chapter to retirement, I thought about all of the less-pomp and-circumstance commencements throughout our lives.
Semisonic reminded us, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” (Actually borrowed from Seneca, a Roman philosopher.) When we embark on a new job, meet a new friend, get married, have a kid, watch our kid graduate and empty our nest, or retiring are more notable milestones of a new beginning.
While these bigger moments may be easier to spot, we have an opportunity each day to commence, even in the smallest ways — changinging a habit, increasing exercise, and determining to be more open-minded to new ideas.
We just don’t have to wear the silly cap. But we should celebrate all of our new beginnings.
