every middle schooler has a double challenge:
first, to be unique and to appreciate all that makes one special,
and second to be connected to others
and to appreciate the sameness at the heart of all of us,
what gives us shape can make us uncomfortable,
the skin that surrounds us,
the essence that is within us,
can feel like the first draft of a work,
as we feel each flaw as a mistake
that draws the myopic eye,
whereas there’s that of creation in that draft
and we should honor how far it goes toward what can be true,
that first step out from possibility into the actual
is always worthy of awe,
who we are at our heart does not want to stay alone,
and every step we make that is of a true connection
pulls us toward the other to make a whole
larger than the sum of the parts,
the young work their souls hard in this daunting challenge,
all of us should honor the way in to ourselves
and the way out to others
with the substance of our lives.
by Henry H. Walker
October 8, ’11
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