Hank Stuever has an "Appreciation" of Steve Jobs on The Washington Post website. I found myself reading this part repeatedly:
"Under [Jobs'] leadership, Apple’s subliminal selling point was: Let it go. Let go of the uneasiness about computers. Let go of ugly, antique technology. Let go of the fantasy future of personal rocketships. Let go of the expensive, shiny new phone that you bought last year for the slightly less expensive, shiny new phone that’s coming out this year. But let go of something deeper, something resistant in you that romanticizes the past."
God rest Steve Jobs. I appreciate his work to propel us into the future.
Letting go is hard in and of itself, and now we must let him go with the angels.
It doesn't matter what it is we're letting go of. I want to give a shout out to everyone who is doing their best to let go of something or someone. It is an ending, and most of us are forced to accept those endings without much support or enough time to mourn them. And they all deserve some level of mourning.
I find myself looking forward to what comes next in many ways, but tiring of an energy that seeks to propel me forward whether I want/need to or not. Especially if I have to pay for it, and it's not necessarily that inexpensive.
Steve Jobs said in the now famous 2005 Stanford commencement speech that he was lucky to find work he loved, and reminded us that our time is limited and not to waste it.
I don't want to waste time trying to keep up with what is mostly "stuff," which Apple products are if we're honest with ourselves. Yes, this stuff has changed a great deal about the way we live, but it's stuff just the same. This stuff helps us do the thing humans have always done: connect with each other in one way or another.
So I'm going to do my best to split the difference. I'm not going to waste time trying to keep up with every iteration of the iPhone or anything else, but I will joyfully embrace the fact that the future will bring more of them as well as things I can't imagine. And I will loosen my grip on the parts of the past that are just habit, while remaining respectful of the aspects of the past that inform and enrich life in this moment and the future.
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