That's the only lesson I learned from the commencement speech. But, reflecting upon it 25 years later, it may be the most important lesson I learned in all of college:
It made a difference to that one.
For years, I've talked about the huge gift artists possess and the importance of sharing your art with the world.
I've even, on occasion, discussed how art changes the world and you can "change the world" with your art.
What I've always meant by that is not "CHANGE THE WORLD" in the big sense, with a capital "C." But, that if you change one person's life, even if it's your own life, you've "changed the world" in the "small" sense. As in, it made a difference to that one.
Now that the internet is a central part of all our lives, BoldBrush lives in the middle of the high tech world, surrounded by startups who, amazingly, claim almost daily that they are "changing the world." It's a phrase that's become nothing but hype and delusion. The smartphone changed the world in the big sense. Eliminating the flu virus would change the world. Achieving world peace would change the world. But no, in the grand sense, your startup to sell life insurance on a website, or to find a parking spot in San Francisco is not "changing the world."
The phrase has become so cliche that I'm hesitant to use it anymore.
While your art may not CHANGE THE WORLD (in the big sense), it will certainly "change the world" (in the small sense). So I need a different phrase that expresses what I'm really trying to say, which is: your art matters.
Fortunately I found the answer in David Heinemeier Hansson's short post, Put a Dent in the Universe. David says:
