Calligraphy & Apple Fonts

A powerful talk by Steve Jobs on how to connect the dots in life. For example how his learning calligraphy as a school drop out informed the fonts for Apple computers. And subsequently raised the bar on all computer fonts. And this was ten years later after he picked up calligraphy. At the time he was doing calligraphy it seemed like a pointless indulgence. It did not feed him or pay his rent. He had to sleep on the floor of a friend's dorm and walk to Hare Krishna temple for one free meal a day. But yet he continued to study what inspired him. Not what was prescribed (ie formal schooling). But at that time when he was learning calligraphy he did not know how the ancient art infused with subtle beauty would inform his fonts at Apple. But it did. Ten years after when he founded he reached back to this experience. So he urges us to have faith and follow your heart. And to keep in mind that you can only connect the dots LOOKING backward. But not looking forward.

Similarly when at 30 he was fired from his job, he realized later that that freed him into one of the MOST creative periods of his life. He was after 10 years after founding Apple and then getting ousted, a beginner again. He had immense freedom and he went back to doing what he loved - computing and founded Next and Pixar. Again the firing only made sense looking backward - as it freed him into his next phase of creative growth. At that time it happened he said it was a public humiliation. And it was awful and he tried very hard to get his job back.