I watched Dead Poets Society this past week, which had been burning a hole in my movie list for quite some time. I thought it was great. It touched on a few really important themes that I’ve found myself coming back to a lot these last few days.

There was one scene in particular that I can’t seem to shake.

In the middle of teaching his English class, John Keating (Robin Williams), stands up on his desk and asks his students, “Why do I stand up here.” After being asked if it’s “to feel taller”, he says, “No, I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.” He then tells his students, “You must strive to find your own voice because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all.”

This scene emphasizes the importance of learning how to think for yourself and captures the essence of why I make such a concerted effort to read / have conversations about new ideas that challenge my preconceived notions of the world.

I like to think that I rekindled my intellectual curiosity a few years ago, when I rediscovered the joys of reading (when and only when I was allowed to read whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, rather than be told exactly what to read and exactly when I had to read it…go figure).

Leaving my unsolicited commentary on the current state of our education system aside (for now), I truly believe that interacting with new ideas allows me to change my vantage point of the world — to stand up on my metaphorical desk.

Unfortunately, standing on top of desks is becoming a lost art. I get it, it’s way easier not to. Our phones and computers — the same devices that put the greatest books ever written (the gateways to newfound perspectives) — at the tips of our fingers, also provide us with 1 million reasons not to read them.

The combination of infinite distractions and the crippling fear that we may not like what we see when we have ultimately ascended to the tops of our desks appears to be sufficient in keeping most folks satisfied living their lives at eye level. Or as Thoreau puts it, “Leading lives of quiet desperation.”

A few years ago, a friend of mine challenged me (using less kind words) to read things that challenge the conventional wisdom that I, for so long, had been conditioned to blindly accept as the truth. He challenged me to learn how to think for myself.

I won’t claim to be there yet, but I like to think I am closer than I was a few years ago.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

I want to pass the same challenge onto you.

Here is to finding your voice, and along the way, never forgetting that you’re the only one who can find it.

Here is to standing up on your desk.

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