alexiss dawn

It’s been out there for a while and I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before — but it’s still that good. Steve Jobs gave the commencement speech at Stanford in 2005 and it’s a brilliant speech. I have it on my itunes list and whenever it pops up it’s always great to hear. Just so happens it popped up while I’ve been at work today.

Working on my film at AM, a topic of conversation that comes up a lot between many of us is what’s in store for the future. Of course none of us have any idea but what we do know is that we love this stuff — our passion lies in animation and the people involved with it — and the idea of getting to do that in the future as a career is very exciting to us. So many of us over at AM are in jobs that are just helping us to pay the bills and we’re working hard and running at that light to work together in the future.

The entire speech is great — you can read the entire speech text over on Stanford’s news site One of my many favorite quotes:

You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

Beloved Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through 12 years of global expansion, passed away last night at the age of 97. President Hinckley was the 15th President in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its President since March 12, 1995.

Yes, yes, I know, this is my animation blog. But I’m taking a moment to remember a great man. He has done a lot for the LDS church but he also did great things as a member of the human race. In 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush awarded Hinckley the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a ceremony at the White House as he had “inspired millions and has led efforts to improve humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and education funding across the globe.” He was also honored by the National Conference for Community and Justice for his contributions to tolerance and understanding in the world.

Religiously he was the modern day prophet of the LDS church. That aside, he was just a good man doing so much for the people on this planet. He worked to help people up until his last moments at the age of 97. In any case I think anyone who dedicates their life to helping others is a respectable person and worth a moment to remember.

This last week was a tough week. Between work, AM, and friends, it really forced me to take a step back and think about what really matters — what’s actually important in the long run. And that’s forcing me to make some decisions about just what I’m going to do as I find myself in unknown places. It’s all super exciting but man, it’s going to be a really interesting year. I’m so incredibly thankful for such supportive friends at AM as well as here in Utah.

Class 5 is zipping by. We’re going into week 4 already. I’ve submitted my video pitches and this week I’ll make the final decision for this project. It’s such a huge challenge but I’m excited to keep pushing with it. Story development is a definite challenge but it’s teaching me a lot — something I’d like to explore even more in the future. Each week I can’t believe how much I learn and grow in my studies at Animation Mentor. The light at the end of this tunnel is getting closer and I’m running at it with a big ol’ smile.