Have you come across David Foster Wallace’s 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College? It’s a beautiful thing. It spells out the daily and mundane frustrations that a 21st century college-educated American will encounter in life. And it reminds all of us who are fortunate enough to be in that position that we always have a choice about how we experience the world and how we relate to the people around us. It’s powerful stuff. And perhaps along with Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford (also in 2005 – dang, ’05 was a high-water mark for commencement speeches!), DFW’s speech is one of the few that anyone seems to remember.

What was I talking about again? Oh yeah…this question. It reminded me of DFW because it’s essentially a question about daily obligations. Cooking, cleaning, etc. It’s a fun one to ask your friends! (But ask it because you want to have fun with friends, not because you want to fantasize about a life that’s not your life. Your life is precious. Look, both David Foster Wallace and Steve Jobs, who were giving speeches in 2005, are now on the other side. Life is precious! (Dang. Re-reading these speeches put me in a weird head space…))

Source: From The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock

Have you asked this question? How did it go? Do you have advice for how best to ask it? PLEASE RATE! AND WRITE A REVIEW (in the comment box below)!