Desiderata

This is older than you. I sometimes find it Xeroxed, framed and hanging in neglected corners of hospitals.

Take it down, trust it to your memory, put it among your “Things To Be Remembered,” and look at it when your spirits are low. It’s guaranteed to make you feel strong again. Trust me.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy

            Max Ehrmann, 1927

Do all the good you can.

Thanks to Barry Carter for telling my story

I am very grateful to Barry Carter, who wrote an article about me that was published in the Star Ledger.  I appreciated how carefully he listened to what I had to say and how accurately he reported it.  He articulated it in a concise manner.  And the article was on the first page of the New Jersey section so lots of people saw.  I've been delighted to hear from old friends and to make new friends, like the School Ambassadors at North Boulevard Elementary School in Pompton Plains, NJ.  Rutgers University, where my husband Ernie Thompson's papers are kept, also got in touch.  I am happy that they would be interested in adding my papers to his.  It is wonderful to have this support for spreading the word that writing is so important for so many people!

I did notice that the title of the article said that I was a one-time activist.  Maybe "one whole lifetime activist" would have been even better.

Kudos to Barry!  As my son Josh's Jamaican friends say, "Big Up!"