"Life... It's Worth It!"- This speech, given by Mary Earl at Cortland this evening, was brilliant. Earl was Kurt Cobain's aunt. Her speech described Cobain's life as she saw it as well as the reasons as to why he committed suicide. She spoke a great deal about people thinking negatively about themselves which is why they make destructive choices; "The way you think determines the way you live your life." At the time Cobain committed suicide he was surrounded by people who she did not consider his friends because they were not honest with him. His best friend bought him the gun that took his life, and she pointed out that this friend could not have possibly been his best because it was quite clear that Cobain was going through a tough time in his life (the friend was aware that Cobain had previously made attempts at suicide). A friend who is not honest with you is not a very good friend. The people who you surround yourself with influence your choices. Also, people tend to act the same way as the people they hang around with. Earl said that a reason why Cobain felt so hopeless near the end of his life attributed to the fact that his so-called best friends were nearly as fucked up and miserable as he was - and because he was aware of this, their attempts at helping him were not successful; Cobain regarded them as hypocrites. The theme of Earl's presentation was that people need to struggle in order for things to be worth it, and that only YOU can change and help yourself. I feel as if I am not doing this speech justice, because it was wonderful. I nearly started crying and got chills more than once. She sung about a butterfly struggling to get out of its cocoon because the pain was necessary in order for it's wings to gain strength and become a beautiful creature, and although I did not enjoy her general sound or style, her voice was amazing as was the concept behind her lyrics.
The only portion of Earl's speech that I found unnecessary was the very end, possibly because I was not expecting it and it was slightly abrupt. She mentioned that what saved her from depression personally was God, and encouraged the audience to go out and find their spiritual sides and to believe in something bigger than themselves in order to get through rough spots in life. Her faith, which she had not spoken about through the entire presentation up until that point needed not to be included. However, I respect that she did not rant on and preach about her beliefs, as well as her beliefs in themselves. The criticism I do have to offer is that the purpose of her speech was that people need to love themselves and to make their own personal choices for the good of their own well being, and while having faith in a greater power is an effective method in doing so for some, what needs to be recognized is that this faith is not necessary in order to love yourself and live life as you please while making correct and rational choices. (I tried to make that last statement objective and unbiased but most likely failed.)