I find it really ironical that graduation speakers advice the crowd to “dream”, “dare”, “fail”, etc., when they themselves do not dare to put away their typed out speech, and just speak. There must be a reason, of course. Some of these graduation speakers have probably given 1000’s of impromptu speeches in their life time. But, somehow, it seems that the norms get hold of them during a graduation speech.
It’s smooth. Too smooth, perhaps. And way too polished. In doing so, they insulate themselves from making a mistake but give up on being human.
A lot of growing up IS having our edges smoothened and polished. We learn to dress appropriately, eat appropriately and behave appropriately. The trouble with all this smoothening is that we often are taught to think “appropriately” as well. Don’t ask too many questions or bring up too radical an idea.
The trouble with the perfectly polished is that there is no edge. And, if there is no edge, there is no tension. And, if there is no tension, there is no giant leap, no progress, and certainly no magic.
A Learning a Day 