In 2005, three years before his tragic death, David Foster Wallace gave the commencement speech at Kenyon College. Entitled This Is Water, it has become one of the most famous speeches ever.
It is published in its entirety in the Wall Street Journal (link does not appear to be behind a paywall), and I recommend that you read it and print it out, or store it in some other fashion, for periodic re-reading.
Recently, in tribute to what would have been Mr. Wallace’s 50th birthday, The Glossary did the following video using parts of David’s speech:
THIS IS WATER – By David Foster Wallace from The Glossary on Vimeo.
You will find that you will connect with this video. In fact, you will connect with it so well that you may wonder why you haven’t said those exact words before.
David had a talent for taking a message, one that might be old and even worn out, and saying it in a way that connects with people. That is what he did here, for the This Is Water phrase sums up the Buddhist philosophy of mindfulness. If we all pay attention to how David made a connection with us on this topic, maybe it will help us make better connections in the future.
