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"This isn’t going to be a lecture, and I have no notes, instead I will speak to you straight from the heart," said Mitch Albom on Wednesday September 19, 2007 when he spoke at the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco. Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie and For One More Day made an uplifting appearance with the perfect timing to inspire introspection between the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashannah (the New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). This successful author began in the sport-writing business but detoured by writing a novel about his favorite deceased professor. Since then, his success grew tremendously. His other book, The Five People you Meet in Heaven, was produced as a movie in 2004 featuring John Voight and Jeff Daniels.

As part of the "JCCSF Art & Healing Program", this presentation was very spiritually focused but not denominational. Mr. Albom sincerely illustrated his "seize the day" beliefs in order to inspire others to follow suit. His repetition of "giving is living" almost became the mantra of the night. He threw out many metaphors and life lessons at the audience, but never in a preachy way. He compared life to an hourglass by explaining that every drop of sand is the same, from the first three to the very last one. However, he clarified, most people tend to assume that we have "an endless amount of sand" in this hourglass. According to him, people are so consumed with the material and superficial aspects of life that they don’t realize when the last piece of sand drops, none of those obsessions matter. What matters most is the love you gave and received.

As corny as these ideas sound, it was refreshing to hear them from such a genuine voice. Mr. Albom didn’t have any ulterior motives such as selling more books because he is already successful with his sales. Instead, he wanted to connect with his audience to inspire them through his stories and anecdotes. To illustrate one point, Mr. Albom remembered the callers from the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers on 9/11. With a soft voice he beckoned, "The people on these flights didn’t call home to remind their loved ones to take care of their cars or homes when they would pass on, they all called to say the same thing, ‘I love you’." While these people were seconds away from death, they did what made them feel the most alive: pass on their love and hear that it was returned."

A little uncomfortable at this sudden shift in mood, I glanced around the audience of about a hundred My two friends and I were by far the youngest in the room and many others around us were tearing up. I wondered if many of us too desensitized by the traumas in the media and around us to take full advantage of everything life has to offer on a daily basis. I pondered this as Mr. Albom continued to cover other topics such as money, aging, and forgiveness. He was quick to admit that he himself has never been a model for expressing gratitude or happiness and it cost him sixteen years with one of the most important people in his life, a college professor who was once a best friend.

To find out the story of Mr. Albom and his inspirational professor Morrie Schwartz, I highly recommend reading Tuesdays with Morrie. The central theme revolves around Mr. Albom discovering that his favorite professor whom he had lost touch with, was in the last months of his life. Each chapter focuses on a different lesson learned from the Tuesdays they spent together until he died. In the lecture, Mr. Albom extrapolated on the struggles with coping with such a tremendous loss. He explained that he came to terms with it by realizing that while death ends life, the relationship lives on. However, he suggested that the relationships live on only if you invest in them now. He believes that the time spent excessively toning at the gym or wasting hours in front of a makeup mirror or a television set should be replaced with time spent working on the relationships we care about. It takes a lot of courage to admit that one has failed on these fronts so I admire that Mr. Albom wants us to learn from his mistake of missing sixteen years with one of the most amazing people in his life.

The highlight of my night was when my question was answered. Upon entering the lecture, everyone in the audience received a pencil and a piece of paper with which to write a question for the author. I asked if Mr. Albom had a message for the youth and out of all the questions, it was among the four that he chose to answer. I agreed with his views that our generation seems to be obsessed with being seen. "For many young adults out there," Mr. Albom began, "it is all about how many hits they can get on Youtube, how many "friends" they can get on myspace, and how many comments they can receive on their pictures. What’s lacking is the effort to make sure there is substance behind such constant exposure." He insisted that teens are often desperate for attention, but when they finally get it, they don’t think about what to do with it. A young woman can stand on top of a table in a crowded bar with her shirt off and get plenty of interest, but is that what she wants to receive recognition for? Is that the kind of attention she wants? Young people constantly compete for attention in the media, online, and in their communities. But what if their seven minutes of fame actually made a difference toward causes- such as the genocide in Darfur, as opposed to breaking news on CNN being Paris Hilton getting arrested for drunk driving? What kind of world would that be? Definitely a better one, which is why I value platforms for creative expression such as Bamboozled and it is reassuring to hear sentiments like this echoed by successful authors such as Mitch Albom.

This evening was surreal because the creative force of the books that I turned to when I struggled with the loss of loved ones was finally manifested in front of me. When I actually met Mr. Albom I blurted out what most "star-struck" people say, "You’re amazing, I really love what you do." But my enthusiasm was appreciated so I got my book autographed. I don’t know what I expected from this lecture but I did not expect to be bombarded with the emotional weight of relating the mentioned concepts to my life. However, it was gratifying to reflect on life from Mitch Albom’s lens during this regular weekday, especially since this lecture could have easily been replaced with random errands or tedious tasks. I wondered if the rest of the audience was thinking of people in their lives that they could clear up animosity with or people for which they could express more gratitude for. While hearing one lecture or reading some books is not going to change an entire person’s outlook on life, the motivation to improve a life can be implanted from these things. "Giving is living" and Mr. Albom certainly gave me that.