Several weeks ago, I wrote “Dear Freshman Me,” reflecting on some important things I’ve learned since coming to college. And as I continue to look forward to what’s in store for me for the rest of my life, I think there are certainly some reminders that I want to hold onto before everyday busyness of living life becomes too routine. After all, as a wise man once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
First of all, don’t lose your sense of wonder. This is important because it is so easy to forget and let go of. As we get older we learn things and experience things, and oftentimes we do become wiser for it. But maybe you like to slip into cynicism. Maybe you (understandably) slip into despair, that such a world can be so broken, in a seemingly irrevocable way. And I hope you learn. I hope you never stop learning. But I hope you always understand that you are a finite human being who, try as you might, won’t always find an answer. And I hope that, every day, however brief, you have a moment of awe—you are a living, breathing creature with the capacity to know and learn and love and feel rain on your face. You’ve walked barefoot in cool green grass in the fall, feeling exhilaration despite the numbness seeping into your feet. You have sat around tables countless times, with so many different people and an abundance of food, laughing and talking and feeling nourished in every possible way. Those aren’t mistakes. Those are moments, and they happen all the time, but that’s the wonder in it. The capacity to live those moments and notice them happens all the time.
If you can hold onto that wonder, I think you’ll find that the next important thing comes quite naturally—gratitude. Even when things are at their worst, “the helpers” are at their best—“You will always find people who are helping.” There are broken things and I’m sure you will have seen broken things—you are a broken thing—but we are still capable of giving and receiving great kindness. As hard as it gets, we wake up another day to this gift of the world in all its brokenness and promised glory.
I meant what I (or rather, Ferris Bueller) said about life moving fast. Take a moment to look at it. I hope you’ve had adventures, and I hope you continue to look for them. There are always new things to try and things that you don’t know. Take pride in a good day’s work and enjoy your rest (and don’t forget how important that rest is). And take the time to love people well—they are worth the patience and understanding.
And remember what joy is—remember it at its deepest and relinquish to it, and create it around you. It can be easy to brush joy away and move on to “more important things,” but joy is one of the most important things—it’s what we’re all hungry for.
