my daily school essentials: iPhone, MacBook, headphones, black gel pen, Moleskine weekly planner
Here is another Steve Jobs post, lost amongst many others on the internet. Whatever. I’m going to write. I always say how important it is to stray away from the noise of the world, to find a quiet place, and to celebrate nature— I feel that it’s very crucial. But let’s face it. This is the 21st century and we own technology. We live in a materialistic world and that’s fact. We use it daily whether we like it or not. I’m an Apple user: I use a MacBook to do school work and I bring my iPhone with me everywhere. I appreciate Apple’s innovative and minimal designs and yes there are cheaper alternatives, but I couldn’t be any more happier with what I have chosen. I don’t have the latest Apple gadgets nor could I afford them, but I admire most of them. When I heard about Steve Job’s passing today, I found out through my iPhone. On the bus to go home, I looked around me and everyone was on their iPhones or iPods. Whether you like Apple or not, in this case, it doesn’t really matter It is just amazing to see how this one company has greatly influenced our society. Apple rose to be known and I’m glad to be here, seeing it all happen. I remember my first Apple product: it was the first iPod shuffle, the white stick. It was given to me by a family friend and although everyone I knew had the brand new, first ever iPod, I didn’t care- I found it wonderful and used it everyday until it wouldn’t play anymore. When I first heard about the original iPhone, I knew I had to have this spectacular design. I have Steve Jobs to admire and thank, but the whole Apple team as well. (Slightly unrelated, but since Jobs was a Pixar executive, I am totally grateful for Pixar for creating Up! and a couple of other great animated films: The Incredibles and Ratatouille)
I found Jobs’ Stanford commencement speech to be very inspiring. I tell my friends how I love words and how amazed I am at how much power words have. It’s been a stressful week already and listening to his speech gave me a glimmer of hope. I find it discouraging at times when I talk to people about school and the future. There are some assholes out there that I know look down on me because I’m studying design and I’m not suffering with them during chemistry class. WOMP WOMP. There are some who only care about status and who are convinced I won’t have a future. There are people that are doubting me because I’m doing what I love. Why do they (pretend to) care? When times get tough, I’ll be reading this speech.
The future scares me, but I’d rather take a risk and live my dream. I’m ready to take it on. Thank you, Steve Jobs, for words of inspiration.
“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”
— Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford commencement address
