New Meanings

     This past week, I listened to one of the most influential speeches I have ever heard. A commencement speech, “This is Water” written by David Foster Wallace has opened my eyes to a powerful message. In the beginning of the speech when Wallace says, “The most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about” it immediately hooked me into the speech (232).  He defines this phrase above as a “banal platitude.” This means an obvious, overused sentence, like a cliché. In an English class, a cliché is something that is looked at as unprofessional or unnecessary to incorporate in your writing, but in some cases I think they are an extremely power tool.

     When you look at the banal platitude (or cliché) as it’s overused definition, it is another boring message you’ve heard about a hundred times. Although, if you choose to look at it with a deeper meaning you will see that it holds a very powerful truth. Wallace emphasizes that if one can learn to think beyond the basic meaning and get rid of our “default settings” it will lead to real freedom, which is understanding and being aware. Just like when you read a cliché, to find the stronger hidden meaning you must peel it apart. As you learn to think deeper about life situations, it is so much easier to see the beauties in life.

     When Wallace says the important realities are the hardest to see, it completely makes sense. Because we see these realities all the time, we tend to dismiss it and move on. It is similar to a monument that is built in the middle of the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Most people tend to blend it in their heads with the rest of their thoughts. I learned when you look deeper into something obvious, you will develop a new meaning of that entity, and it could change how you view it.