Lunch with Liz Walker

Before Liz Walker gave her breath-taking speech on Tuesday, Michelle and I (joined by a couple of other faculty) sat down in Valentine dining hall for a lunch chat with her. My first thought: what a powerful lady. Her presence alone radiated power as she probably stood at least a foot taller then myself, and knew how to start, entertain, and animate the conversation! What a lady, I thought. We chatted about a trip to Israel she had made, and her overall humanitarian work, Liz's activates for Women's rights, poverty, Sudan and domestic violence. She is also part of a church group. I was tremendously inspired by her sophistication.

And then it was time for her speech. Michelle and I grabbed a video camera from IT and made our way up to De Witt where we occupied the first row. Her speech gave me the feeling that you get at weddings and graduations. She related the subject of connection to how everyone in the world is connected, and brought up the irony and importance of real life. The irony being that there are so many people living their lives stressed out everyday, on their cell phones, making money,listening to static that the world has created for itself, forgetting to pay attention to their inner- most voices.

Walker calls these "voices" callings, that we cannot neglect. She based her speech around three themes: taking risks, answering your callings and connections in order to educate us about the importance of finding your innermost passion and taking risks in order to do what you feel you were meant to do on this earth. Discussing the true essence of life and continuously quoting Martin Luther King, Walker did an amazing job of making me realize A) how lucky I am and B) How I can't let my life pass me by without following my calling. I personally feel like I know what I was put on this planet to do. Walker said that callings were what your contribution to the world was meant to be, considering that we are all connected, in conjunction with everyone else.

Having lunch with Liz Walker prior to her speech showed me how humble she was on top of inspirational and proactive. I really look forward to hearing Liz speak again. What a lady!