BRATTLEBORO — It's graduation season, and over the past few weeks, we've all heard a lot of wise and inspirational advice.
There are zillions of quotes out there being used to guide us in the right direction as we graduate from high school, telling us things like “follow your dreams” and “you are the future.”
Since it seems like that's the way to go, I wanted to start off my speech with a bit of advice from perhaps one of the wisest men. Except he wasn't so much a man as he was an elf-man-tennis-ball-thing.
Clearly, I'm talking about Yoda.
In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 escape from the imperial fleet's blockade of the planet Hoth in an x-wing fighter. Luke crashes his fighter on the swampy planet of Dagobah, where the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi convinces the Jedi master Yoda to take him on as a student. But I'm sure you all know that already.
The point is, while trying to teach Luke to connect with the force, Yoda told his discouraged pupil, “You must unlearn what you have learned.”
Luke was too caught up with what he believed to be possible to reach his true potential, to get that x-wing fighter out of the swamp.
I'd say that this bit of wisdom is pretty relevant to us at this point in our lives. As we graduate, we have the opportunity to unlearn all the expectations, to unlearn the limitations, rubrics, and guidelines. We can set out and find the things that inspire, entice, excite us.
What we will remember of our time at BUHS, when we look back at our accomplishments, are the sparks of excitement when we discovered the new and unexpected - moments like throwing your first pot on the wheel in ceramics, building part of a house with the career center, losing yourself in a character at a play rehearsal.
As we move beyond the guidance of high school, we have the opportunity to find those new moments of inspiration and passion. We have the opportunity to become beginners again.
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma said:
“When people ask me how they should approach performance, I always tell them that the professional musician should aspire to the state of the beginner.
“To become a professional, you need to go through years of training and you worry about all the critics. But if you get on stage and all you think about is what the critics are going to say, then you will play terribly.
“Instead, one needs to constantly remind oneself to play with the abandon of the child who is just learning the cello.
“Because why is that kid playing? He is playing for pleasure. He is playing because making this sound, expressing this melody, makes him happy.
“That is still the only good reason to play.”
Yoda and Yo-Yo are both getting at the same idea. As graduates, we can set out with the same passion and curiosity as the beginning cellist.
It's an opportunity to break away from the “supposed to's,” to surprise ourselves, and think in new ways. And when we do, we can move from the mentality of practice, when we're focusing on every note, to the mentality of the artist, when all those notes and all those hours of practice turn into something bigger. Something surprising.
Today, our future is a clean slate, an empty page, a new chapter, an open door, a clear sky, a fresh start, a gaping abyss.
And whether we're starting jobs, college, travel, or lives as famous cellists or Jedi masters, we can set out as beginners in the best possible sense.