A Carnegie Mellon Professor, Randy Pausch is best known for giving the traditional “Last Lecture”. Around September of 2007, he had been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and told that he had only 6 months to live. Instead of crawling into a hole and dying quietly, he emerged and taught the world to live, actually live each day and enjoy life. And as his lecture came to a close, Randy would say that we, the audience, may take what we want from it, but it’s really for his children. I remember first hearing about Randy and watching him on YouTube. I can’t explain and I won’t even try, I just offer to you what someone else once offered to me and hope you find the tiny pleasures in the lessons he speaks about.
A few of my favorite examples he uses in his lecture are as follows:
“When he first saw his wife and fell in love with her. That it took him a long while before she noticed him and reciprocated – the two falling madly in love with each other.” He never gave up.
“When his niece and nephew visited they were told by their parents to be extra careful around Uncle Randy’s new car - To not get it dirty! When they arrived, Randy took them out to look at the car and held up a can of soda. He then began pouring the can of soda in the backseat of his brand new car.” Possessions are things, easily replaced and cleaned. People are human and make mistakes, forgive them and move on.
“Write on your walls.” In my childhood bedroom (which my father has now rearranged into his office) the walls are covered in my poetry. The walls of my apartment in Venice, hehehe.. Are covered in 3”x5” index cards for the three writing projects I am currently working on.
“When there’s an elephant in the room, introduce it.” Randy Pausch
This is the one sound bite of Randy’s I have yet to learn and execute and wonder if this “elephant” will be my life’s lesson. And as I sit here typing, I smile, cause I know I will face it. The fear has passed and the butterflies are all a flurry, but I welcome it. Randy is a reminder, my reminder to live and enjoy life.
Thank you, Randy.
Side Story:
This past Tuesday evening as I was riding Ballona Creek with the Taco Tuesday Posse, Caesar rode up beside me, his music blaring from off the back of his bike. We smiled at each other and then he said, “We only have one life. One life.” I nodded and together we pedaled on a bit faster, the wind in our faces, and for a moment, became invincible.
This past Tuesday evening as I was riding Ballona Creek with the Taco Tuesday Posse, Caesar rode up beside me, his music blaring from off the back of his bike. We smiled at each other and then he said, “We only have one life. One life.” I nodded and together we pedaled on a bit faster, the wind in our faces, and for a moment, became invincible.
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