Concepts of Inspiration
A deeply emotional reflection on Dr. Pausch’s “Last Lecture” reveals powerful parallels with Mastery by Robert Greene, emphasizing resilience, childlike wonder, and the unexpected brilliance of serendipity.
After wiping the tears away following that last line that Dr. Randy Pausch dropped, completing his “Last Lecture” speech at Carnegie Mellon University. I’m still in awe of his presence, attitude, and the talk I had just witnessed. I cannot imagine being in his position, as I hope to never be, I only hope I can be that thoughtful and impactful. In reflection, this video would do a lot of good for kids starting to think about their next steps in life. As a parent of two young boys, my hope is that I can help them achieve their childhood dreams, let alone my own.
Concepts & Parallels
In reflection of the video and the required reading, there were many concepts that overlapped between the two. The three that stood out to me were: letting go, the dimensional mind, and serendipity. It was cool to put these side by side in my notes and compare how these two men of very different background and experience overlapped so much in their thoughts and theories on mastering life.
Letting Go
In the book Mastery, letting go is mentioned in reference to ideas and breakthroughs from creatives and masters. Green talks about “lesser types would simply give up or settle for what they have” (Green, 2012, p. 200). Pausch, in his speech, talked about something similar, “brick walls,” he reminded his audience that there is a reason for brick walls. They give you a chance to do the hard work and show how badly you want something (Pausch, 2007, 18:26). These two men were talking about the same thing, that hard work goes a long way and that nothing in life is always going to be that easy or handed to you. I personally have hit many brick walls, and I have almost always found a way through. During that time, it wasn’t always enjoyable, but being able to look back it has always been a great lesson to reflect on.
The Dimensional Mind
Green really goes into detail regarding the dimensional mind as well as building up to it with the original and conventional mind. On page 177, he states that the dimensional mind, is a product of discipline and a childlike spirit. He continues explaining that this mindset, once mastered, has no bounds with creativity, being tied down by habits, or having the social constraints (Green, 2012). To revisit Pausch’s talk, he talks about holding tight onto that “child-like wonder.” The basis of the entire talk is not only around his life experience, but those childhood dreams he held onto and let them lead his life (Pausch, 2007, 1:02:19).
Serendipity
A creative strategy that really stood out to me and that I also enjoyed reading was about serendipity. Ignoring the fact that it is a fun word in general to say, it is something that happens all the time and I would be willing to bet that not many people know about this concept. This is something I do all the time; I have a whiteboard in my garage gym for this very reason. Even though I must fight for space with my husband with all his flying notes and what I like to jokingly call, doodles. It’s very hard to just do one activity, it can be the smallest thing that triggers a thought, and then suddenly I am down a rabbit hole for a solution to an acute or chronic problem. On page 185, Green quoted William James on this topic, “…the most unheard of combination of elements, the subtlest associations of analogy…” (Green, 2012). Pausch coined this concept as a “head fake,” saying almost everything we learn comes from something else indirectly (Pausch, 2007, 11:43).
Summation
As I previously stated, I did really enjoy seeing these concepts overlap in their own unique way. I think there is a lot to learn from not just these concepts, but all of them that are touched on in both the book and video. Out of the three concepts, the dimensional mind, is the one I need to work on the most. I try to be very self-aware, but I still find myself getting tied up or caught up in limits or emotions. My husband and I try to challenge each other and call out when the blinders show up. We truly want to give the best to our sons, and we know we must first start with ourselves.
References
Green, R. (2012, November 13). Mastery. Viking Adult.
Pausch, R. (2007, December 20) Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/ji5_MqicxSo?si=TUPAtciKO1_-rS4h