As she speaks at a commencement speech at Harvard, she acknowledges how many of the students she's speaking to are not too "well-acquainted" with failure. -She shares her own personal experienced poverty growing up, a short-lived and imploding marriage and then the coffee shop she escaped to to write. Failure helped Rowling feel "set-free" as she was truly aware of who she was without any delusion and get down to the bare-bones at what her passion is in life.
"Failure helps you realize your strengths to survive," she goes on to speak. Personally a very recently, I found myself standing at a precipice of what I thought was a fulfilling life: a steady job with a paycheck, benefits and friends.... Or who I thought were my friends at the time. I was afraid if I jumped off from this rock of a what I considered a very stable existence that I would fall, get injured and never recover. I thought my day job was everything to me. In truth, I think I was brain-washed to believe that it was the best part of my life. I let myself get brainwashed.
After being un-employed (just doing odd jobs) for 8 months, I came to realize the things most important to me... My husband and our growth as individuals and a couple, our 7 zany but wonderful pets and my passion to tell good stories. If I was asked to strip away all the layers around who I am and introduce myself I would say, "I am Stephanie and I am a writer who loves to tell enigmatic stories." And like J.K. Rowling, I hope my stories will be as inspiring as the giving and helpful life I've lived.
"We make a life by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill
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