This Is Water (book)
Free Audio Version (full length: 20 mins)
Shorter Audio With Video (9 minutes)
I still remember where I was in 2012 when my friend Evan shared with me the “This Is Water” speech by David Foster Wallace. It hit me like a ton of bricks. This speech was the first time I had heard someone talk about the default setting of the human mind, the urgency around cultivating awareness for what is happening around us, and choosing what we think about in our day-to-day lives.
This speech continues to have a huge impact on my personal philosophy as I revisit it every couple of months, and make a point to read the script and reflect on it each birthday. That is all, I just wanted to share this. Let me know if you listen to this, and please consider sharing it with a graduating senior or ordering a copy.
I wish you way more than luck.
Hey Kevin, this was a good one man!! I had heard the fish saying before, but never heard the speech. Needed this as I have found myself in that exact frustrating situation at the store recently. This reminds me a lot of the book Napkin Notes – did you guys ever read that as RDs?
Hey Eddie,
Glad you liked it, I find the speech to be the best reminder at times to get out of my own head. I have not read Napkin Notes! I’ll have to look that one up.
[…] However we choose to get in-front of the proverbial mirror to develop this self-awareness is less important than doing the work of cultivating the practice. The development of self-awareness, as David Foster Wallace put it, gets us out of our default setting. […]