My Splendid Lifestyle

사람은 누구나 두려운 것이 있습니다. 크게 두려워하는 것과 조금 두려워하는 것으로 정도의 차이는 있지만, 보통의 사람들은 두려움을 하나씩 갖고 살아갑니다. 살면서 없던 두려움이 생기기도 하고, 때로는 그런 두려움을 극복하기도 하면서 우리는 삶을 위축시키기도 하고, 혹은 한층 더 성숙한 삶으로 발전시키기도 합니다. 우연하게 떨어진 웅덩이에서 만난 박쥐를 두려워하고, 갑작스런 부모님의 죽음이 자신 때문이라는 자책감으로 삶이 온통 두려움뿐이었던 한 사람에 대한 이야기를 오늘은 해볼까 합니다. 사회정의를 실현하고자 하며 위험에 처한 사람들을 구하며 악당을 물리치는 영웅 배트맨의 탄생에 대한 이야기 영화 <배트맨 비긴즈>. 브루스 웨인(크리스찬 베일 분)은 어린 시절, 친구와 놀다가 웅덩이에 빠져 박쥐들이 몰려드는 경험을 하게 됩니다. 그리고, 그날 부모님과 함께 공연을 보고 나오다가 길에서 부모님이 피살되는 것을 눈 앞에서 지켜본 후 박쥐에 대한 두려움과 부모님이 자신 때문에 돌아가셨다는 죄의식에 분노로 고통스럽게 하루하루를 살아갑니다. 복수하고 싶은 욕망은 불타오르지만 명예를 지켜야 한다던 부모님의 가르침 사이에서 갈등하던 그는 악을 물리칠 방법을 터득하기 위해 고담시를 떠나 범죄자들의 소굴에 섞여 그들의 습성을 터득하면서 살아갑니다. 그러던 중 브루스는 듀커드(리암 니슨)라는 베일에 가려진 인물을 만나 정신적, 육체적 수련을 시작하게 됩니다. 시간이 흐른 뒤 뛰어난 무술과 정신력으로 무장한 브루스에게 듀커드는 ‘어둠의 사도들’에 가입하라고 합니다. 그러나 브루스는 강경하게 범죄자들을 응징하는 이들의 방법이 자신과 맞지 않음을 깨닫고 ‘어둠의 사도들’이 있는 곳을 빠져나와 다시 고담시로 돌아옵니다. 브루스가 떠나있는 동안 사회봉사라는 이념 하에 운영되었던 브루스 가문의 기업인 ‘웨인 엔터프라이즈’는 전문 경영인에 의해 운영되고, 고담시는 부패와 범죄로 파멸 되어가고 있었습니다. 그래서 브루스는 배트맨이라는 이름

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called “The Whole Earth Catalog” which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 60's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along. It was idealistic, overflowing with neat tools and great notions. Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was the

My third story is about death. When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself. "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. ------------------------------------------- Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most import!ant tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of

If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on that calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots, looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path. And that will make all the difference. ---------------------------------------------- My second story is about love and loss. I was lucky. I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz' and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20. We work

am uh... honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. Truth be told, I never graduated from college this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories. The first story is about connecting the dots. ------------------------------------------------------- I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out? It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my paren