What We Build ~ Sarah Kay

There once was a young girl who happened upon a construction site.

She approaches a man working and says curiously, “Excuse me. What are you doing?”

“Can’t you see?” he says impatiently, “I’m laying bricks.”

As she walks along, she sees another man doing the same thing. She approaches and says, “Excuse me. What are you doing?”

“Can’t you see?” says the second man, “I’m building a wall.”

She approaches a third man also doing the same thing and says, “Excuse me. What are you doing?”

“Can’t you see?” he says proudly, “I’m building a temple.”

~ Adapted from a traditional fable

Sarah Kay inspires the graduating class of 2015 at Scripps College with this old fable. She tells the class that sometimes we must focus on the present moment (laying bricks), sometimes we focus on the job (like building walls), and sometimes we get a glimpse at the temple that is our lives.

What kind of person am I? Do I focus on the task at hand laying brick? Do I focus on the job? Do I join a movement, something larger than me? Perhaps we must be all of these people at different times in our lives, or even at the same time.

Watch Sarah Kay’s Keynote Speech at Scripps College Graduation as she inspires the class with her spoken word poetry and the stories of her life.