Apparently they're doing a piece on valedictorians (hey now, James? I really hope he chose Reed so I will know SOMEONE in Portland!) and I am supposed to provide "the best piece of advice" that I've been given in high school. That's quite difficult, as I've been given a lot, especially in light of recent events. All those sporting events, crazy awesome volleyball seasons, Curtain Calls, retreats and Core Team events. I can't even begin to fathom all the advice I've received, much less evaluate how much and how well they each have impacted my life. But this is what I've got so far.
"Reflect back to each other nor our projections, not our needs, not what we wish the world and each other to be, but to reflect back "you are beloved."-Cyprian Consiglo
"The only mistake I make is the one from which I learn nothing"-Someone at Kairos
"I have everything I need to be happy right now"-Kairos again
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always."
-Mahatma Gandhi
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function."
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
I think I'm leaning toward the last one.
Wow. I just got sucked into all my Kairos stuff. I think I really needed that before this last week of high school. I needed to hear those good things again. I am completely confident in my own abilities but it's good to know that I am those things to other people. That its not just me, I am the person that I think I am and say that I am. I'm so glad I never threw that letter away. "Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth."
-Benjamin Disraeli. I'm glad I have this booklet, this blog, this letter, so that I always remember how I felt because that is what is most real to me. And when I read them, I feel most alive because they are no longer faded memories, I am living them again.
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