"A mere 7 years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless." -J.K. RowlingThe new Harry Potter movie (Paige saw it at midnight opening night) has me thinking about the commencement speech JK Rowling gave at Harvard in June, 2008. Rowling talked about the fringe benefits of failure and the importance of imagination. I think I'll just take on failure now and post on imagination later.
Anyway, J.K. Rowling believes that failing at life post college was a blessing in disguise for her personally. While failing was not fun, Rowling learned that she was stronger than she thought. And, once she saw she could survive failure, Rowling emerged strong and wiser from the setbacks.
Since failure along the course of life is inevitable for all of us (even Harvard graduates) it's nice to see the best-selling writer of all-time attribute some of her success to things she learned about herself when she failed.
Perhaps my favorite soundbite from Rowling's commencement address is when she tells the graduates that they can't spend the rest of their lives blaming their parents when their lives don't go as planned. Actually, she stated it more eloquently, so read the direct quote below and imagine the British accent....
"There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you." -J. K. Rowling
