The spirited actor-writer Mindy Kaling has come up with a book titled, “Why Not me?”
What she says while delivering the Commencement Address at Dartmouth earlier this year gives a clue as to what the book is about, “I was not someone who should have the life I have now, and yet I do. I was sitting in the chair you are literally sitting in right now and I just whispered, “Why not me?” And I kept whispering it for seventeen years; and here I am, someone that this school deemed worthy enough to speak to you at your Commencement. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something, but especially not yourself. Go conquer the world. Just remember this: Why not you? You made it this far….”
To this powerful mantra, Kaling adds humour and spirit, “You’re graduating into a world where it seems like everything is falling apart.
Trust in institutions are at a record low; the truth doesn’t seem to matter anymore; and for all I know, the president just tweeted us into a war with Wakanda, a country that doesn’t exist. So, Class of 2018, you are entering a world that we have toppled - like a Jenga tower, and we are relying on you to rebuild it. But how can you do that with the knowledge that things are so unstable out there? I’ll tell you my secret, the one thing that has kept me going through the years, my superpower: delusion… My point is, you have to have insane confidence in yourself, even if it’s not real. You need to be your own cheerleader…”
Extending support
While saying , “… root for yourself. And while you’re at it, root for those around you, too,” Kaling adds, “Hey girls, we need to do a better job of supporting each other. We live in a world where it seems like there’s only room for one of us at the table…Wouldn’t it be better if we worked together to dismantle a system that makes us feel like there’s limited room for us?”
Kaling’s insightful comment is, “I arrived here (US) as a 17-year-old and immediately began making a checklist of everything I wanted to accomplish…And here was my freshman fall checklist… I completed that checklist. Then, I graduated. And I made a new checklist for my twenties. Well, spoiler alert: I’ve only done one of those things, and I’m not sure I will ever do the others. And that is a really scary feeling.
Knowing how far that I’ve strayed from the person that I was hoping to be when I was 21… So I just want to tell you guys, don’t be scared if you don’t do things in the right order, or if you don’t do some things at all… So if I could impart any advice, it’s this: If you have a checklist, good for you. Structured ambition can sometimes be motivating. But also, feel free to let it go...”
