Grieving for a Stranger: What Steve Jobs Taught Me

This post was written by Angela on October 12, 2011 | Comments (6)

My start in the publishing world rested in graphic design. This, of course, means I am a die-hard Mac fan. I love the hardware, the aesthetic appeal, the seamless functioning, and the intuitive use. Macs, I found, are an addiction. I was trained on them and just couldn’t turn back. My first Mac was the heaviest laptop I’ve ever seen, but this shiny titanium brick was like a ticket to my future. I lugged that thing around campus and to internships all throughout my college career. Even though it’s missing a key or two, it’s still kicking. I now also have an iMac that certainly isn’t lighter, but doesn’t ask to be hauled around. A few years ago I was also gifted with an iPod Touch, which I use more for the apps than I do for listening to music. We use it to listen to movies  on trips in the car (of course including Pixar), check e-mail, search the web, and play games.

This technology is my connection to “knowing” Steve Jobs…or so I thought.

Over the years I have found that when well-known figures pass on, some I simply acknowledge, but others tug at my heart-strings more deeply. With Steve Jobs passing I am again asking myself why I carry a sadness that shouldn’t really be mine. Why this heaviness? I never knew this person! Maybe part of it is simply an expression of empathy for those who have loved and lost. Still, I know it’s something more, possibly even an expression that moves beyond the single person.

I’ve noticed over this past week that people are listing their Apple resumes, all those products they use and have been changed by, and how the company (and in turn Steve Jobs) has influenced them. It’s a way to mourn a connection we have, but don’t really know how else to express. We grieve, but for someone we didn’t really know, wondering why we are so affected.

When I first heard he had passed away, it was through a posting a friend made on Facebook. Maybe you saw it, too? It goes like this:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” ~ Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011). (for a full video clip go here and watch “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”)

I was surprised at how meaningful this was to me, from someone whose world was so far from mine, based in science and technology. I thought in Apple I had found education, tools for my future, and entertainment. I may have been simply utilizing technology and responding to innovative design and marketing appeal, but I realize in all this time my connection has been more. I also discovered beauty, self-expression, world connection, and fun. I was submerged in dreams, courage, heart, and intuition that taught me to uncover the same within myself. That is why I write my Apple resume. That is why I take a moment to pause. That is why, in a small way, I grieve.

Have you felt the same sense of sadness following Steve Jobs’ passing or for anyone else you didn’t really know? What was your experience?