No One is Perfect

I guess I feel the need to go back and explain why I started this blog in the first place. To be honest it was an assignment for one of my classes titled "Apple, Google, Facebook". I was surprised to realize that this class is in the religious studies department. But sure enough, this class focuses on these successful technology companies and then ties in the religious implications of such technology and innovation. To put it simply, my mind was blown that first week of class. I have never taken a religious studies class before and frankly if you asked me to define religion before last week I probably would have just made something up.

So it wasn't until this year that I ever really considered starting a blog. Even taking this class, I probably wouldn't have started one if it wasn't assigned to us. But this assignment has really got me thinking of what I can make of this blog and what I can get out of it. So I have decided to make this blog about my transition between my last year of college and what the future has to bring me (in addition to my assigned blogs.. obviously). To put a creative twist on it, I have decided to track my progress of my honors thesis and tie in my personal development as I take on this huge challenge. At first this may seem like a strange topic to blog about, but I'm really focusing on my personal strengths and weaknesses and what I need to improve on before I venture out into the "real world". And I feel that since my habits in my school work will directly transfer to my habits in the working world this really is the perfect place to start. So I hope that all you readers enjoy my story and I hope that it inspires you to work on your own personal development. Because let's be real, no one is perfect, but why not strive to be?

Signing off as the girl who needs to pick up the pieces of her mind before her next religious studies class

          At Standford's commencement in 2005 Steve Jobs gave a profound speech that touched upon many aspects of his life. He shared his stories to inspire the young graduates to believe in themselves and find a job that they love to do. Within his three different life stories that he shared with the grand audience, he also touched upon numerous religious implications. These may have been subtle to the general audience, but when listening to his speech with religion in mind, these implications became much more obvious. The first story he reflects back to is the time he spent in college. He only attended official classes at Reed college for six months and then decided to drop out. He explained, "...I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do in life and no idea how college was going to help me figure that out." I feel that it was in this moment that Jobs began to search for his Self. He actively made a decision to pursue what he wanted to do in life, rather than simply do what he was told to do.

         He still continued to drop in on classes, but now he was able to drop in on the classes that interested him most, such as calligraphy, and stop taking the required courses that bored him. During this dramatic transformation I feel that Jobs began to find his belief in fate. He stated, "I decided to drop out and trust that it would all be ok." From this statement alone I was able to deduce that he is finding his religious beliefs and value and even coming to find his own spirituality. He later goes on to explain that you can't connect the dots looking forward, but reflecting backward you can make sense of everything and connect all the dots in a meaningful fashion. This explanation confirmed my initial thought that he believes in fate. He emphasizes the crucial need to trust in "something; your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever" because trusting the dots will connect in the future will enable you to follow your heart. From this story I got the sense that he truly believes in destiny and that's what enables him to be so confidence. I believe that this sense of fate is what allowed Jobs to find such great success within Apple, Next, and Pixar.

           Lastly, at the end of his speech he encourages all of the new graduates to pursue what they love to do. I feel that in this moment he is encouraging the audience to transcend the pressures of society and the ideas that you have to do this, or you have to do that because that's what everyone does now a days and instead free the Self and find your true peace and harmony within yourself.