remember the luminous part of you

In his commencement address to Syracuse University’s class of 2013, author George Saunders reminds us that:

“[The] luminous part of you exists beyond personality — your soul, if you will — is as bright and shining as any that has ever been. Bright as Shakespeare’s, bright as Gandhi’s, bright as Mother Teresa’s. Clear away everything that keeps you separate from this secret luminous place. Believe it exists, come to know it better, nurture it, share its fruits tirelessly.”

The world will you give you plenty of reasons to renounce this luminous place: rude encounters with strangers, broken promises, frustrations at home or at work, etc.

Yet, the case for going down this path, however appropriate or oddly gratifying it may seem in the moment, is thoroughly unconvincing: You are no happier in the end, and the people around you are no happier. Just the opposite, everyone is almost certainly worse off for it.

In her recently published list of aphorisms, The gifts of 40, Julie Zhuo cautions as much: “the worst competition to take part in is who hurt who more.”

Whether the world is kind to you or not in this particular moment, to the extent you can, respond with kindness. Or, as Saunders aptly put it, “kindness [is hard], [but] to the extent you can, err in the direction of kindness.”

The luminous part of you is made brighter with each conscious choice to do this. Keeping the lights on in this way on not only nourishes you over time, but it serves as a potent reminder to others that they possess a beautiful luminous place worth sharing too.

Saunders offers a prediction of sorts at the end of his speech, “someday in 80 years, when you’re 100, and I’m 134, and we’re both so kind and loving we’re nearly unbearable drop me a line, let me know how your life has been. I hope you will say: It has been so wonderful.”