There are rare moments in life when you’re doing exactly what you should be doing, with the people you should be doing it with and the rest of the world just falls away for a split second. It’s extremely hard for me to be in the moment since I spend most of my life obsessing over what happened yesterday or predicting the doom that tomorrow brings. Yet somehow in these rare instances I know instinctively that this moment is a special one and I just sit back and cherish it.

The first time this happened to me was one summer night maybe before we all left for college or maybe after our freshman year, I don’t quite remember. I do remember that I was with my closest childhood friends hanging out on Amanda’s trampoline. I got sick of jumping so I just laid back, looked at the stars and listened to the gabbing going on around me. I knew this moment was epic and that soon we’d be too old to spend summer nights jumping around on a trampoline. We’ve spent lots of time together since that night, but nothing has been quite as carefree since then.

Now fast forward a few years. When the epic moment of epicness happened at South By, I wasn’t quite dressed for the occasion. When I picked up Devin and Kristen from their dinner I was wearing the black dress and wedge sandals that I had on for a client event earlier that evening. On our way to the evening’s festivities, we stumbled upon the Carousolar, a solar powered carousel courtesy of GE. We had all walked by it before, but none of us had tried it out yet. So like little kids we skipped over to the Carousolar and queued up for our turn to ride. When I was little I rode carousels all the time snuggled up next to my grandfather in the carriage so they have a special place in my heart, but I haven’t been on one in years.

Considering my preference for the carriage (even though I had no one to cuddle with this time) and the likelihood of a wardrobe malfunction (high heels + short skirt + carousel horse + my clumsiness = bad news), I was going to play it safe and just sit in the carriage by myself. But for some reason at the last minute I figured “Screw it!” and just climbed up on a carousel horse, short skirt, high heels, multiple bags of swag and all. Once the carousel started rotating, the horses began galloping and the music came on, I truly felt like a little kid again. Even though we were checking in and videotaping and twitpicing all the while (you can put a girl on a carousel horse, but you can’t take the tech geek out of the girl), it was a moment of sheer bliss. Somehow despite being and adult and knowing the mechanics behind a carousel and the lesson being imparted with a solar carousel, the magic of riding a fake horse around in circles is still strong.

And when the carousel stopped spinning and the music went off, I managed to get down off the horse without hurting myself or flashing anyone else. Devin even commented that I was quite graceful. As soon as my feet hit the ground the moment was over and I was back to being a grown up.

Post-SXSW coverage always focuses on the best panel or next big startup, which are all very valid discussions and important ones to have, but for me the best moments of SXSW will always be the times I spent with friends. Singing Backstreet Boys or Lady Gaga in the back of a Chevy, falling asleep in the Hilton lobby while being poked incessantly to ensure I don’t actually fall asleep, riding a carousel horse, walking down the street while singing along to “Whip My Hair” and whipping our hair; this is what I love most about the annual migration to Austin.

Where you at SXSW this year? What was your favorite moment?

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A few weeks after graduation as I was job hunting, as were some friends while others were beginning their first jobs out of college, I created an abridged version of the speech. I concentrated the speech down to the most important points Mr. Lucchino was trying to make. I imagined one day pinning a print out of these “10 Rules for Life” to my cubicle walls. Yes that’s right, I actually wished for a cubicle. So let me share these rules with you. You can pin these on your cubicles and then go enjoy this beautiful spring day outside.

Larry Lucchino Commencement Speech 2008: Rules for Life

Number 10: Give a nod to Mr. Gill. Of course, it is true that life must be fun; also, that kindness is essential – and you do need to work at both.

Number 9: Be bold – do be prudent – but please take risks, in your personal life, in your career, in your travels, in your geographical choices.

Number 8: Smile, laugh, and be pleasant. This may sound banal and naïve. It is not. It is a profound occupational and personal advantage.

Number 7: Be strong enough to say, “I don’t know.” When you don’t know or understand something…when you don’t know, say so. Don’t guess. Don’t fake it. If you don’t have the answer, say so. These seven words often work out well: “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” You won’t mislead your colleagues, and people will respect your honesty and self-assurance.

Number 6: Remember: life is too hard to be lived alone. Find time for your family. You only get one. “Thank God,” I can hear some of you saying out there.

Number 5, which follows from Number 6: Reflect often upon the most important source of knowledge in your student years – your classmates. It’s from them that you have discovered other ways of looking at the world – other ways of living. Stay in touch with the people who matter to you – share one another’s lives. Through sharing one another’s sorrow, you will find life tolerable. Through sharing one another’s joys, you will enhance your life. Long after you have forgot the last fact you crammed for a final exam, remember a lesson learned from a friend or an insight from a classmate.

Number 4: Remember Jackie Robinson, although, believe it or not, many baseball players do not. Be mindful of the catalytic effect one person can have on a community, on a neighborhood, on a nation, on a compelling cause or a nagging injustice. Hold within yourself a capacity for outrage at injustice. Be confident that if you fight long enough and hard enough, you too can make a difference. And like Jackie Robinson, you can do it with dignity.

Number 3: Don’t be colorblind. Your world is indeed a rich, open, diverse, multi-colored, multi-ethnic, multi-textured, multi-cultural experience. Declaring that all groups are the same is a deceit; believing that some ethnic groups are better than others is a moral disgrace. Embrace and celebrate the pluralism and diversity that are the essence of American life, indeed the essence of all of life. We aren’t all the same, we shouldn’t try to be. Immerse yourself; enjoy our enriching differences. Opposites allegedly attract; they also educate.

Number 2: Seek balance. A rich life is a balanced life. Don’t focus too early on your career. Deviate a bit. Embrace change. A Yale professor of my era once preached: “Everything before age 30 was preface.” Widen your gaze. If you have blinders on, take them off. The world is open, and full of opportunity. And, pay attention to Sigmund Freud’s famous definition of mental health: “to work, to love, and to play well.”

Finally, Number 1: Help some people along the way. The famous French soldier and statesman, Marquis de Lafayette, wrote long ago of America: “What charms me most is that all of the citizens are brethren.” We are – and must still be – brethren. Find a cause you care about. Involve yourself. And start early in life.

Mr. Luchino shared his top ten list of lessons he learned from life and sports. Instead of spouting random words of advice, he told us stories. He explained that “life is not about warming yourself by the fire, life is about building the fire. And generosity is the match.” In the spirit of generosity, this blog is my small gift to you.

There are countless sites devoted to providing invaluable career advice. I visit these sites on a regular basis and find them very helpful. What I find most valuable though, are stories. I was told over and over that my first job out of college might not be my dream job, but I didn’t feel better the first, fiftieth or thousandth time I heard that. Guy Kawasaki’s first job out of college was counting and selling diamonds. Some of you may have heard of him; he has gone on to build several successful start-ups and publish nine books. Reading his life story actually gave me hope.

My generation is infamous for being a coddled bunch of pansies. To be honest, in many ways we are- or rather, we were. We are now entering the working world during the worst economic climate since the Great Depression. This new world requires working your face off (as Gary Vaynerchuk would say) and offers great rewards to those willing to go the extra mile. I have faith in my peers and believe we can rise to the occasion. We just need a little encouragement.

Encouragement is exactly what I hope to provide with these stories. Though I have many stories of my own that I would be happy to share, I’m hoping this site will be full of guest bloggers sharing their own tales of failure, success and lessons learned.

Share your story like Mr. Luchino did! E-mail me at bakmanb[at]gmail[dot]com