Unfortunately, I will miss you this year in Monterey, as I will be somewhere between the Pacific Coast and the Atlantic Coast from the Vernal Equinox to the Summer Solstice, springing into my encore career. One destination that I know for sure so far is http://SlowLivingSummit.org May 30-June 1st.

Happy Spring, Roz!

(There was really no winter here this winter)

And to actually participate…! I’m sure my wife will totally understand. Let’s see, I’ll need some sponsors. Jay, may I borrow those oars you have of Roz’s?  :0)

Would have liked being in the audience. Sounds like a very good day’s work, and I am sending you virtual high fives.

It occurs to me; the scores of other metaphors for your current journey against the many adventures you have taken on eye to eye, nose to nose in the past. And although this seems to be monumental in proportion to rowing oceans, I have no doubt that your experiences make you the best person to be at the helm. 

I wish I were there when you first began setting out across the Atlantic. I am absolutely thankful that those escapades were well documented. However, I (we) are present now, and cannot wait to support you in your new pre-achievement task.

Good luck to you and all best!

Roz against rubbish! 

~a fight to the end

Row Girl Row!

~Jay

Here they are:
“Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we
are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that
most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a
child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is
nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel
insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were
born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just
in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we
unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are
liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates
others.”*) ESOL = English as a Second or Other Language

Whatever your passion is now; be prepared for the possibility
that it will change as you mature.

If you have a career path planned, expect to discover that
it isn’t what you expected, or that it’s oversubscribed, or that it will change
radically or even disappear.

Have a back-up career. We will always need good mechanics
but we have more than enough waiters and baristas.

Always have a spare pair of oars

At sea, watch the weather forecasts. In business, watch the
market.

You don’t have to be an employee. Contractors get more
notice when they’re laid-off.

If you plan to work in government or a non-profit, first
spend a couple of years working in a for-profit business so you can learn where
money really comes from.

When things seem to be getting really rough, check your
life-raft.

If someone tells you that you cannot fail, or that you can
be anything you want to be, inquire why there are so many out-of-work actors.
There is at least on thing at which you will succeed, if you can find out what it is.

Whatever you do, make sure you know where your towel is, and
always be scrupulously honest with yourself as well as the rest of us.

You have been honoured by this invitation, Roz, and it is well deserved.

1) Who are the stakeholders and how will my actions impact them? Stakeholders include, family, friends, community, state, competitors, as well as, and perhaps most importantly, enemies. One should ask, “Am I doing what I’m doing out of malice or spite or am I trying to help my enemy see the error of their ways?” Of course, that also requires that we make every attempt to view and understand the situation through the eyes of our enemy as well. We may discover that we are the ones in error, not our opponent. So always consider all stakeholders from not only your perspective but theirs as well.

2) Usufruct. What’s that you ask? (Roz likely knows given she has studied law.) But for the rest of us it’s a concept that would solve our environmental problems. Usufruct’s modern day equivalent might be “conservation,” but actually it goes much further and can be used to cast a much wider “ethical” net if you will. From the Oxford dictionary: Usufruct (Roman Law) is “the right to enjoy the use and advantages of another’s property short of the destruction or waste of its substance.” So the idea is that you can use something, like this planet we call Earth, but we must be mindful of the other creatures–as well as future generations–that have an equal right to use the Earth as well. We should not spoil the Earth’s ability to be fruitful and provide the needs of others now and into the distant future. (It’s the only planet we have (and they will have), but everyone here already knows that.) Another way to consider usufruct is how Thomas Jefferson used it in a letter to James Madison (1789): ”I set out on this ground which I suppose to be self-evident: ‘That the earth belongs in usufruct to the living;’ that the dead have neither powers nor rights over it… We seem not to have perceived that by the law of nature, one generation is to another as one independent nation to another.” In that letter, Jefferson went on to suggest that the U.S. Constitution be torn up every 19 years such that each successive generation may create their own compact under which to live and not be encumbered by the previous generation’s rules.

So I’d recommend to graduates starting out that they always consider both stakeholders and usufruct as they move through life to their journey’s end. If they do that, then indeed, they’ll never fail.

Also, Roz, balancing drive and ambition with virtue and humility is a fine art. I might suggest you take a look at the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu (I recommend the translation by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane Engish) for some guidance in that regard.

Hope that helps! And thanks for all you do Roz!

This is a worthy challenge. The environmental and petroleum disciplines are well represented on this campus. TU publishes Petroleum Abstracts and also wins lots of awards in environmental engineering.

Your theme of objectives and outcomes is widely applicable. The premise that failure is not possible may apply personally, however society can fail in signifigant ways. Your environmental slant might be supported by the sustainable society ideas of David Suzuki. The idea of exponentially increasing expenditures by Chris Martenson illustrate how accelerating economic change could cause chaos.

I still remember how graciously you answered questions by the grade schoolers in Tampa on your first portage across the colonies.

Row Roz Row!     

But those are kinda boring and trite things for a commencement speech.

I’m guessing your speech will be much more uplifting, and perhaps have more of a touch of humor.

Actually, having written that, now I’m thinking the key to it all really is just that: humor.

If you can go through life with a sense of humor, everything else will be so much easier.

Don’t think you’re not old enough to have an impact, don’t think you’re too old to make things happen.

Morph from an individual achiever to a crowd inspirer.

Value selling – don’t look down on salespeople – everyone has to be able to sell ideas, themselves, visions, etc.

Then change all these thoughts into positive sentences. So “You can’t fail” needs a “You can fail and rebound – like on an ocean wave.”

Joe  

I would say to them: 1) Eat your vegetables, 2) consider Slow Food, Slow Living, Slow Money, 3) be an Activist for all things Slow, and 4) “be the change you want to see in the world” (Mohandas Gandhi)

1st destination: http://SlowLivingSummit.org VT end of May.

Simply speak simply, Roz!

Happy sailing,
Lundyn

~ Maya Angelou

Row Roz Row!

*H*a*P*p*Y*:)*B*i*R*t*H*d*A*y*!*

 Row Girl Row!

“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, ‘How many good things have you done in your life?’ rather he will ask, ‘How much love did you put into what you did?” ― Mother Teresa