CHANGES IN PLATITUDES, CHANGES IN ATTITUDES: Wyoming Poet Laureate David Romtvedt had some new things to say about platitudes at the University of Wyoming/Casper College Center’s recent commencement ceremony. According to a UW press release: “Romtvedt discussed the usual platitudes that are typically offered at commencement: do your best and treat others with respect. Although platitudes are true and useful, he claimed that they are usually tuned out because they have been heard so often. According to Romtvedt, platitudes need fresh new language so that the idea is viewed from a new angle. "I just wanted to try and give a commencement talk that would give people something useful to think about, that might be mildly memorable, that might help them to stay awake and celebrate the event." So Romtvedt offered platitudes with "fresh new language" and advised the students to "hang tight to the places you come from" and to "find out who you are and be that person." Romtvedt included the graduates in a rhythm exercise, where they drummed their hands on their thighs, clapped their hands together and tapped their feet while Romtvedt played a melody on the accordion. He said that the experiment in rhythm was what 19th-century poet John Keats called negative capability, a necessary skill for a poet. The activity showed how "a person (can) hold two conflicting views in the mind without the need to resolve the conflict, without the need to reject one and embrace the others. I think it's a necessary skill for one to be a full human being, too," Romtvedt explained.
