The human experience is absolutely transformative and exceptionally diverse. There are very few people who have been gifted with the ability to record their own experience into words that inspire an emotional connection. When we encounter those individuals who can put into words the mystery of life, it is absolutely encapsulating. The propensity of their own stories and their conceptualization of the idea of life is a connection that is utterly profound. These speeches cause us to evaluate our lives and lift our hearts in unison by blanketing our minds with their profound messages. Henceforth, I have put together a few of these transformative thinkers who have cultivated the human experience through a sequence of words that touches our innerness so much that it has the ability to make us reflect and contemplate on our own lives.
David Foster Wallace “This is Water”
David Foster Wallace delivers a graduation speech that calls on people to utilize their education to raise their level of awareness and to grapple with how to find meaning out of the repetitiveness of the everyday. Calling on his audience to critically think about their lives, Wallace illustrates the boundless capabilities of the brain. Thus, capturing the beauties of the human mind and the human experience, while still reminding us that we have to be the active agents that seek out the beauty that life has to offer.
Baz Luhrmann “Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen”
A peculiar speech that offers up bits and pieces of advice that leave listeners reflecting on their own lives. While Luhrmann addresses common themes that have been recycled throughout human history, he dispenses his thoughts with wildly specific experiences which reveal their extraordinarily insightful meaning in the context of his lessons. The ebb and flow of the speech integrates overarching life-related themes that require reflection with abrupt specific instructions, hence the title of the speech, which adds an element of humor to his words.
Robin Williams “Make Your Life Spectacular”
One of the world’s most loved actors delivers a hair-raising, heart-wrenching monologue. Williams humbly shatters down all emotional barriers as he delivers a soul-filled taste of the stark contrast between the travesties and the victories life has to offer. Thus, revealing his incredible emotional understanding of the human experience and our own delicate relationship to the heights and downfalls of our own life. Williams extends the invitation to take on life with a limitless attitude, to which you cannot help but be inspired.
The Beatles “Blackbird”
Arguably the most important song to ever be written. The simple harmonious melody builds the message of the beauty in brokenness. Written in the 60’s in response to the Civil Rights Movement, McCartney reveals the heart-wrenching tale of two black woman from Little Rock Nine wanting to break free from rigid racial barriers enforced in the education system through metaphor. Not only does this song support civil rights, but it also serves as a reminder of the beauty that comes when humans can connect and empathize with each other’s pain.