Steve Jobs, Mama’s message: Give an iDamn

Jim Henson with Kermit the Frog, born in Deer Creek near Leland. 

            Life is filled with paradoxes. For instance, why does it take death to remind us how much life matters?

When Steve Jobs, founder of Apple and visionary who helped guide the world of technology for much of his life, died last week, his life ending helped remind us of the impact a single person can have on the world. For all of the iThings that he created—iPads, iPods, iPhones—his largest gift to the world arrived through his message: Steve Jobs encouraged us to think different—reject the status quo. Much of his professional and personal life seemed based on thinking different.

Looking at his background, beginning as an adopted child, Jobs needed to think different to appreciate his world. He realized at an early age that his imagination could shape not his reality but that of those connected to him. By the time he died, Jobs seemed connected in some way to people in every place in the world.

           Jobs died at 56-years-old. His impact on the world cannot be calculated with even the most up to date Mac computing strength. Not just his professional persona, his personal life reflected a man who lived differently: He followed tenets of Buddhism and pescetarianism while appreciating Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mohandas Gandhi and Jim Henson.

Thinking of Jobs’ impact on the world after his passing reminds me of one of the most important people in my life.  My mother died last year after a lengthy struggle with muscular dystrophy. She was 58.

 I will never forget my last image of her alive, smiling toward me, feeling the strength in her grip as she held my hand. Seeing Mama struggle, sometimes breathing with help from a ventilator and unable to walk without falling down, I saw her tenacity and persistence to move forward.

Among many lessons, my mother taught me to stand up and fight for my beliefs. Steve Jobs gave us affirmation to think different. They both seemed to live with authenticity, something so many people around us today seem to lack.

As a native of Mississippi, a place forever misunderstood even by Her own people, I try to remember the importance of thinking differently with conviction and gumption.

Living a different life can sometimes be tough in areas like Mississippi, a place that often seems to appreciate different only after the rest of the world validates it. Don’t take my word for it, just look at the lives of writers like William Faulkner and Richard Wright.

Mississippi can make those with doubt second- and third-guess themselves. Maybe that’s why the Magnolia State has produced such strong-willed, different thinkers like Fannie Lou Hamer who railed against racist laws and Constance McMillen, who as a high school student refused to allow her school district to discriminate against her based on sexual orientation.

Depending on the current statistic or report or artist or writer or musician or athlete, Mississippi often offers the best and worst of America. Feel satisfied with what you see? If not, Mama and Steve have some good advice—Change the world.