It's not hard to be inspired at the end of the week, especially in summer. On weekends you get to sleep in, not wake-up-early-just-to-spend-an-hour-commuting; you eat leisurely meals with loved ones instead of scarf an apple on the subway or coffee in your car; you surf to your hearts content, read, play, relax - dare I say, live! There are, hopefully, parts of your week that you love and look forward to with real enthusiasm, but inevitably, we all have parts of our weeks or months that we loathe. That's not gonna change, honey. Obvs, if you can cop a better attitude about those distateful bits, all the better. But, if the grating boss or the migraines aren't going to disappear as quickly as you'd like, don't despair.
Two Steps to Happiness
Step 1: Take my advice amid all of this sea of great advice - and really think about the parts of your week you look forward to, that excite you and never tire you no matter how many hours you have to spend. Your love of organzing, or your talent for research, or your way to get people to see things your way are your God-given gifts.
Step 2: Find a way to create more of this.
Celebrity Wisdom
Part Five of our Inspiration Week series features two, that's right TWO commencement speeches which are perfect complements to one another. My absolute faves of our little series.
The first is someone you may not know - Robert Kruwich. I was introduced to NPR's Radiolab a few years ago over lunch in NYC with a colleague and former editor at Popular Mechanics magazine when we were geeking out over the elusive genius of being able to tell a compelling story that has science at its heart. It's harder than it sounds. Good story telling is rare because it's hard.
The second and last is the brill Conan O'Brien. He's so enjoyable. He's hilarious in his unique Conan way. Self-depracating and brazen...and remember, he's not a chump. He was editor of his schools news paper, as in, The Harvard Lampoon.
Just a few days ago he gave the commencement speech to the Ivy League grad's at Dartmouth College. Watch Conan's speech, it's a riot. They're calling it the Greatest Commencement Speech Ever. End your week on a high note. (p.s. Conan seriously needs some sleep, he's looking a bit tired.)
Enjoy your weekend. Peace Out.
ROBERT KRULWICH
Robert Krulwich, co-producer of WNYC’s fantstic Radiolab, author of the ever-illuminating Krulwich Wonders and winner of a Peabody Award for broadcast excellence, is one of the best science writers working today. Last week, he addressed the graduating class at Berkeley’s School of Journalism and made some remarkably poignant points about passion and the future of journalism. No video yet, but you can listen here or read the full transcript here — and I can’t recommend enough that you do.
CONAN O'BRIEN
(thanks brainpickings)
