Morrie Schwartz: You're Part of the Ocean

I know this monologue is VERY brief, but Morrie is speaking to not only the field reporter but to viewers like us as well as he is discussing our own importance in life and death. I read Mitch Albom's book, Tuesdays with Morrie, in which Albom describes getting back in touch with Morrie, his former teacher, after he is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease and is interviewed on Nightline (this video is a clip from the interview). Throughout the book, Morrie teaches Albom valuable lessons about living and how to not fear death, which was consequentially taught to the readers as well.

Tuesdays with Morrie is one of my all time favorite books and the lessons I learned from Morrie's experience actually really helped me when my grandfather was diagnosed, and just recently passed away, from lung cancer. It helped me understand that things that can seem so terrible and largely unfair at the time are all just apart of the bigger picture, allowing me to keep an inner peace and to explain those principles to my grandpa so that he was not consumed by depression nor defeat as he attempted to battle his illness. 

 I thought actually hearing Morrie's brief monologue is more valuable than reading a quote from Albom's book.

Comments

  1. ShiraAugust 10, 2017 at 9:21 AM

    It's so interesting that you posted this, because someone shared this analogy with me just this past Monday. I hadn't heard it prior to that conversation. So, I was really surprised when I watched this monologue a minute ago. I think the way he explains it is so powerful. He has such a aura of peace about him, and the imagery is so meaningful. I agree that this analogy is a reminder that all things are parts of a bigger picture, but I also find another meaning in it. I hear in it that when someone dies, although their bodies are gone, they still live on in the hearts and memories of those who remain. (The wave itself may have been destroyed, but the water that made the wave returns to the water in the ocean.) Wow. This is an emotional and intense monologue. It's definitely making me think deeply.

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    1. Crystal GermanettiAugust 10, 2017 at 4:53 PM

      I love your observation about his aura of peace...

      I did not attribute the second meaning you thought of, that people's spirits live on once their physical body is gone, to his monologue, but thinking of it now, I do. I have always had that belief in general about death, and his story gives a pleasant image to go along with that. Thank you Shira :)

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  2. UnknownAugust 14, 2017 at 9:03 AM

    Thanks for posting this Crystal! I absolutely love his analogy with the waves and the ocean. It's one that I've heard before, but I was really touched by the way he told the story of male and female waves. The way we live is impacted by our perspective in such powerful ways, isn't it! It's also beautiful to hear that you found such refuge in "Tuesdays with Morrie." Finding allies like that during challenging times can be life-saving. I've had a similar relationship to Pema Chodron's book "When Things Fall Apart."

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