BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — A man who thought up talking spiders, pigs and mice once said, “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.”
The quote is from E.B. White, the author of Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, two books that maybe you read – or at least saw the movies.
But what does this mean to you – the graduating Class of 2020.
Everything – or at least a piece of advice as you enter a world changed by a virus.
All authors make their living off writing and explaining ideas (sometimes fictitious, sometimes factual, but mostly somewhere in between) – about what they wish to see, the world that is, the world that was and the world that can be with change.
A little background.
Once upon a time your coaches, professors, parents and mentors stood where you stand today. The world was different – the fashion was different, the music was different, sports existed.
All of them faced – to a degree – what you face now: doubt, fear and uncertainty.
All entered worlds which experienced radical change – sometimes mild change due to technology, and other times due to shifts in societal norms caused by monumental events (World War, Civil Rights, Vietnam, the Cold War, 9-11, etc.).
Back to E.B. White – born in 1899 he saw the Spanish Flu pandemic, two World Wars, the rise of Communism, the evolution of technology, the creation of airflight, the Civil Rights Movement and more before passing away in 1985.
The world changed around him – sometimes for the better, occassionally for the worse, but he took the blank page in front of him and attempted to explain via mice, spiders and pigs a world in which hope and compassion overcome obstacles.
Make no mistake – in line with the old Robert Frost poem, the woods that you will need to travel through in the coming days, months and years will sometimes be lovely, occassionally dark and often deep, but your journey to tomorrow starts now with miles to go before you sleep.
In a foreward to Charlottes Web, White is quoted “All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world.”
So, your colleges, your parents and the sport of water polo launch you forward from the hallowed halls of academia to the streets of life with a pen of experience to write your story in a world your peers will author.
