my north star.

David Foster Wallace’s This is Water means more to me than I can ever put into words for two reasons: First, it’s brilliant; it’s brilliant because it’s honest and real in both the details of the thinking and writing as well as the life lessons. Secondly, I’m proud to say I was a small part of it coming to life. 

I served on the committee responsible for bringing DFW to Kenyon College to deliver that commencement speech. In turn, as you can imagine, I heard it live, the hot, humid morning the Class of 2005 graduated from Kenyon College. I knew it was both special and different the first time I heard him speak those words, even in the fog of college graduation; I didn’t realize then how much it would become a liberal arts Bible, of sorts, for the rest of life; a way to filter adulthood, a primer in growing up, a call to keep thinking, learning, and understanding the world around us. I think of it most often when I get a grocery cart with a squeaky wheel.

You can read the transcript from his speech here or listen below.