Slaughterhouse Six

I can't do it justice, so I won't try.

American author Kurt Vonnegut used to give commencement speeches.

He’d often tell a story about his Uncle Alex. 

“One of the things [Uncle Alex] found objectionable about human beings was that they so rarely noticed it when they were happy. He himself did his best to acknowledge it when times were sweet. We could be drinking lemonade in the shade of an apple tree in the summertime, and Uncle Alex would interrupt the conversation to say, “If this isn’t nice, what is?”

So I hope that you will do the same for the rest of your lives. When things are going sweetly and peacefully, please pause a moment, and then say out loud, “If this isn’t nice, what is?”

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Every week, I sit down to write this blog.

It’s usually on the back of some anecdote like this. Throughout the week, I’ll find a quote or an idea that I catch myself coming back to, and that’s my sign that I should write about that idea.

So then I write a quick 100-word story that illustrates the point.

Then I share the specific quote or idea.

Then I spend the last 300 words putting my own spin on it.

A lot of the time as I’m writing, I have the same thoughts:

“Am I really doing this idea justice? Would it be better if I just left it without my own spin? Am I wasting my readers’ time?”

This week, I don’t have anything else to add.

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Vonnegut died in 2007, but the story of Uncle Alex should be eternal.

Every day, find an excuse to stop, look around, and speak out loud the most impactful 6 words ever strung together:

“If this isn’t nice, what is?”