Desiderata
Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.
© Max Ehrmann 1927
On writing
During my application process to business schools, I realized my writing quality had decreased since my college days. In college, I would crank out papers almost mindlessly and overtime I became efficient in making bloated papers focused on pages than quality. It wasn’t until I took an introduction to geopolitics in my senior year that I worked more on concise writing. We would create memo-like one pagers on our readings which meant I had to summarize forty or fifty pages in one page. For the first time, I had to really focus on main points and leave out irrelevant material. I wish I had more experience in college writing this way.
I feel like I am slowly losing my ability to write in a meaningful way.Two years out of college and working in a setting where most of my writing is emails or in less than 140 characters,I want to get back to the place where I write often and even get better. Here are a couple of things I plan on doing to improve my writing:
Practice
I will write more. By writing in my journal and on here more often, I hope to gain some confidence and get back to where I was at the end of my college career.
Read
I will reading more fictional books. I reading a lot of informational texts but I need to branch out to the fictional book space to practice identifying style and tone.
Edit
I will take opportunities to help others edit their writing. Practice makes better but helping others practice helps on a whole other level.
I hope to take my writing to the next level and to do that, I have to become a student of words, structures, tone and messaging. Writing, reading and editing more will definitely help me become a great writer.
CU