New Summer’s Resolution

It's kind of nice now that the academic year is drawing to a close--not for me, not because I'm graduating or anything, but because all of of these great commencement speaches are floating around, past and present. I was recently sent a link to Connan O'Brien's 2000 address at Harvard, and lo and behold, Metafilter had a link to that and a few others today, including a Jon Stewart's William & Mary address in 1984 and a commencement address delivered this past Saturday by none other than my-pal-by-several-degrees-of-separation, Stephen Colbert. Now, this isn't a post comparing or contrasting addresses, 'cause I'll say right now that overall, I liked O'Brien's better than Colbert's and I've yet to read Stewart's. Colbert had a lot of repeat material from that little show he does every night on Comedy Central, but he had a few pretty funny jokes (like the somewhat disgusting metaphor about packing our heads with knowledge like plump sausages) and, to be honest, something that's got me brooding a bit. In particular what he says as he's winding to a close:

But don’t be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying “yes” begins things. Saying “yes” is how things grow. Saying “yes” leads to knowledge. “Yes” is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say “yes.”

Thanks to Mr. Colbert, I realize that I am a cynic. Okay, I already knew that, but I'm not so sure I've really thought a lot about what that means for me. When it comes to me and my state of being and my possible futures, I've got a pretty negative disposition, and that makes me sad. I think I have been convincing myself that this is all just an appropriate response to life and a subsequent result of wisdom. Now, I think it's true that a few circumstances have led me to experience a weird smattering of things otherwise reserved for the middle-aged, but I am by no means "wise". "Cautious" at best, "cynical" at worst and, I think, most likely. So with that, I am pledging that all of my future efforts will be concentrated on telling the difference. That, and to say "yes" more often. I've gotta start being a little more hopeful and stop being such a wuss.