In the best off all worlds, Mr. Black will be reading this letter to you on a crystal-clear Thursday night. The stars should be canvassing a black sky, and Mr. Wilmot’s fire should be viewable from the next galaxy. It should be just cold enough to let you appreciate a warm fire, a thick sleeping bag and heated bathrooms with hot running water. Some of you have probably left your picnic tables a mess from reunion dinners with long-lost watch groups and will need to clean those up before turning in tonight. Everyone of you stinks like last year’s mayonnaise but the only people who will notice are the poor souls who were gearing up for a peaceful lunch at KFC only to have their spirits crushed by watching you all roll off the bus like putrid circus clowns endlessly exiting a Volkswagen. No doubt as you are reading this, I have settled down in my warm and comfortable home, a full meal in my belly, a soft mattress under me and the knowledge that I would give my right arm to be with you all tonight. Regardless of whether you are under the sky or huddled under the pavilion working to stay dry, you are experiencing an element of magic which you will never fully realize until the possibility of reliving it has thoroughly vanished.
You all are growing up in an increasingly complex world that even your teachers and parents do not fully understand. I won’t get preachy about all that and the tremendous gift of simplicity that you have been given this week. If you don’t get it now there’s no use trying to explain it all. I am loving my job at Walden School, but miss you all greatly. Many argue that you are now on the verge of emerging from “the dim days of development,” but I’ve always appreciated the natural curiosity and the balancing act required of your age. Unlike your younger siblings and older parents and teachers, you all have one foot firmly planted in an adult version of reality while the other still dangles freely in a pool of childhood amazement and fantasy. No doubt that you are beginning to feel the weight that we as adults mistakenly thrust upon you to “grow up” “compete” “challenge” “push” and “achieve.” I believe this world is on the cusp of realizing how much quality life we pressure you into shedding for our own contentment and piece of mind. Don’t be so eager to withdraw from that magic and diminishing world, once it’s gone, you’re liable to never see it again. It is my loss that I am not here with you this year to teach you, but, thanks to Mr. Black, it is my privilege to be able to visit you with these words. So here goes a year’s worth of lessons in several very random thoughts.
1. Like Thorton Wilder’s Emily asks: Does anybody really appreciate life as they are living it? and the Stage Manger responds, “only a few poets and artists. You have the opportunity to enjoy the moment. Most of you this week have viewed your natural surroundings and, for perhaps only a brief moment, saw more than large boulders or flowing streams. Devils Den was more than a large hole after a grueling hike. If you were, at anytime on this trip, blessed with the insight to gaze upon your surroundings as a living canvas painted by a spirit greater than ourselves, or recognized a brief flash of a pattern or logic to the complexities of this natural beauty, then you have the gift for enjoying the moment. Most of us do, but maturity quickly stifles it in exchange for concerns about tomorrow or next week. Never forget that while we worry about the future and the past, we exist only in the present. Those who live in peace with themselves recognize the true beauty that is now.
2. I know each and every one of you and know that you know the difference between right and wrong. Never forget that you know this. As human beings, there will, and has, come times in your life where you will knowingly choose what is wrong. –This is one of the qualities that makes us normal and allows us to learn from our mistakes. However, never cheat yourselves into rationalizing your misbehaviors. When you knowingly choose wrong, take responsibility for your actions and learn from them. There are too many examples of adults today thinking that right and wrong depend on the person and the situation. This is the adult version of “I didn’t do it.” You will never grow as a person without knowing your own faults and being accountable for them. What makes a person honest isn’t always doing what is right; what makes a person honest is always being honest.
3. A review from seventh grade: Nobody makes you happy, mad, angry, sad, humored, or embarrassed. These are all emotions that you choose to exhibit based on how others treat you. If you allow others to pick your emotions for you, you give them control of your well-being. If someone treats you poorly, you then have the choice of how to react.
4. Never forget that everything you observe in your life is an opportunity to learn. When in the midst of a conflict, battle or just a sad time, remember that there is no such thing as a bad experience if you take newfound knowledge away from it. We tend to only recognize life’s lessons when they emerge from positive experiences and, therefore, miss half of what there is to learn. Life hands us lessons of what to do and what not to do, learn from them both. Never forget that everything you observe in your life is an opportunity to learn. We tend to only recognize life’s lessons when they emerge from positive experiences and, therefore, miss half of what there is to learn. Life hands us lessons of what to do and what not to do, learn from them both. You may not feel fortunate to have to deal with a difficult person or situation, but you have the opportunity be the better for it.
5. On the same note, every morning you get out of bed, you are given the ability to better the lives of those around you with kindness, patience and understanding. You also have the opportunity to make others suffer. Which path you choose is what defines you as a person to those around you.
6. I wish you all the honor of finding someone as wonderful as Mrs. Archibald.
7. Stay dry, stay warm, help those with whom you share a kitchen and home, never forget how lucky we are to have indoor plumbing, and fast-food chicken. If I can ever be of help to you now and throughout, please call me anytime.
Your friend,
Mr. Archibald