to do: write a memo to myself 20 years from now
"But listen, it should cheer
you up that I’m still here, and I’ve learned,
in the forty years between us, the good news
about enlightenment. You don’t need it.
Keep waking to the common light of day.
Keep following the hungers of your spirit.
One thing will lead to another, and through
the good and painful years you’ll realize
that life is not still hazily ahead
or off in a distant land, but here, now, you.
You’ll do not as well as your best hopes
but far better than your worst fears, and this
you will call happiness. Trust me on it."
-John Daniel '70
excerpt from "To a Freshman at Reed College, Spring 1967"
in Reed Magazine
i like this practical yet optimistic reflection on life.
the whole article is rather interesting - they have several other authors as well:
http://web.reed.edu/reed_magazine/spring2007/features/what_would_say/daniel.html