Connecting the Dots
There were notably three portions to Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford: connecting the dots, love and loss, and the notion of death.
For many years, many associates and family members have questioned my goal of completing five majors in community college. Their arguments were that it would take forever to accomplish, and that I was wasting time by staying in school for so long. To be honest, at the time, I didn’t see how my majors would mix together, but I knew I loved learning from those subjects.
When I found myself as a software engineer at NASA, my boss noticed I had a wide away of interests and focuses, and she was instrumental in connecting my own dots together. Although my primary job at NASA was to develop web applications, I soon found myself using my psychology, sociology, and social sciences knowledge running a lab part-time where we studied 3D cockpit displays for 747 airplanes.
The concept of human factors or human computer interaction (which tied parts of my CS and psychology knowledge together) came later when my boss urged me to attend a seminar presented by cognitive scientist Don Norman, who talked about product design, and emotions – the very core of what I was interested in, but never fully realized it until then.
The dots were beginning to connect, but all of them came together to draw a picture when I reached Stanford, working in the psychiatry labs doing emotions research. I found my CS knowledge was extremely handy in designing programs to analyze and collect data, and that my psychology and sociology knowledge bridged me to researchers and the data they collected.
Even though NASA was paying me more at the time, I found myself really enjoying what I did at Stanford, and left NASA to continue on emotions research. I’ve been there for two years, and have recently left as an employee. However, I truly enjoyed what I’ve been doing there, that I’m a continuing volunteer. I love learning about emotions, and its relation to life itself.
I’ve never pictured myself living beyond thirty, but that’s probably because I’m too young right now. But, I always feel that my time is limited, that I need to change people, and the world NOW, as opposed to later. It’s why I’ve taken on many opportunities that have come to me, even in the times where it feels seemingly impossible to accomplish.
No one regrets my decisions anymore, and I don’t regret the awkward path I’ve taken in my life with respect to college. It’s true that I’ll probably graduate when I’m twenty-six or even twenty-seven, but my life feels fulfilling in many ways, and many people are genuinely interested in having me incorporated into their futures.
I’m frequently asked nowadays, “What do you plan to do in the future?”, and the honest answer is, “I don’t know.”
Those kinds of answers are often scary, but when I say this response, I say it with utmost confidence. I’m not afraid of not knowing my future, because I know even greater things lie in it; I can accomplish anything because I am up to discovering, and conditioning my mind for that future.
I know I’ll live beyond thirty, but I want to keep this mindset, because I want to live as if everyday was my last.
Theme of Love
Okay, watching the new Final Fantasy IV remake for the DS trailer has gotten me inspired to sing the “Theme of Love” from the game. I know, this is a horrible thing for me to do, I can’t sing, and I tried twice on this, but I just felt inspired. I also made up the lyrics to the tune of the song as well. So, if you’re brave enough, enjoy?
Original Song
My Horrible Attempt 1
My Horrible Attempt 2
“Theme of Love” Re-Rendition
Lyrics by me
Under the crescent moon
Lies two people staring listlessly
Joining hearts together magically
Exchanging “I love you completely”
And up from worlds above,
Watching gently as these two bring love
Brightly shining as the stars themselves
They’re so beautiful down there
It’s just so wonderful to find
The love they shared once left behind
Waiting so long, and now they’re here
Forevermore
Impossible it seems,
Years so far apart they once just were
Separated by their own small worlds
Now rejoining once again
Say Goodbye
Photo by Bob Montoya
The rain pours as the sun rises
Washing away the end of yesterday
Tears I once had where we parted
It’s hard saying goodbye
To realize the end to illusions
Of bonds united by problem’s beginnings
Why do I feel empty
Goodbyes without heart
Mean forever because of this