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Paperwork: I wish my young mind had listened a lot more closely to older minds · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Paperwork. I wish my young mind had listened a lot
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  more closely to older minds. Written by Lonnie Kane. This
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  article is being read by an automated voice brought to
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  you by Everlett. Tuesday, June ninth, a reminder popped up
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  on my cell phone calendar. It tells me this every
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  year graduation, West Aurora in nineteen sixty six, an important
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  day sixty years ago, A magical day. As I recall,
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  I knew schooling was not over. College was ahead, with
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  heavier textbooks, homework and final exams and the almighty grades.
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  Oh and my future. But still I felt so free
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  that day June ninth, I had survived a gauntlet. I
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  do not have many amazing memories of high school, and
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  there is one person I can blame for that. Me.
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  I'd quickly grown about my junior and high school years.
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  Yet I have that calendar reminder. For some reason, I
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  don't want to forget those years. Or maybe I can't forget.
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  There were formative years on so many levels. I still
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  have every yearbook from seventh grade on. More than once
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  I've used them to put a face with a name.
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  I do have memories that are embedded, mostly of certain people.
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  As I spilled these thoughts, I realized what I did
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  not like about those years. It wasn't quirky teachers or
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  bullies or the in crowds that I watched from a distance.
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  What I lament is who I was or was not.
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  At that age, I did not really know who I
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  was or could be. I was busy hiding from others
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  and myself. I wonder if I'd be a different person
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  if I could do it again. I did have some
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  teachers who woke me up, stirred some creative juices in me.
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  But what I needed I did not get until I
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  became a college kid. And even then I was lucky
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  because a journalism prof jerked me out of my shell,
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  Yes jerked. He pushed me onto a campus newspaper. I
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  was kind of terrified, but it worked. He forced me
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  to do something I fantasized about in high school but
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  lacked the courage to do. Where does that courage come from?
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  I don't know. Maybe we all need help sneaking into
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  the grown up world. That moment when you start to
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  believe in yourself is a turning point. I do think teachers, mentors,
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  and friends can be the game changers They help us
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  see who we are or are not, sometimes better than
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  we see ourselves. A friend and fellow journalist sent me
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  a popular commencement speech that got me thinking about those
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  benchmark days. The speech was full of insights by author
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  Ann LaMotte, speaking at the two thousand and three commencement
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  at the University of California at Berkeley. Her words are
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  still being shared, which prompted a thought. We have many
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  required readings in school, why not include great commencement speeches.
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  Perhaps the best time to reflect on such advice is
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  not on commencement day, but in a classroom discussion. LaMotte's
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  advice is found easily online, but let me share a bit.
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  Your problem is how you are going to spend this
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  one odd and precious life you have been issued. Whether
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  you're going to spend it trying to look good and
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  creating the illusion that you have power over people and circumstances,
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  or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it,
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  and find out the truth about who you are. I
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  got a lot of things that society had promised would
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  make me whole and fulfilled. All the things that the
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  culture tells you from preschool on will quiet the throbbing
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  anxiety inside you, stature, the respect of colleagues, maybe even
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  a kind of low grade fame. The culture says these
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  things will save you as long as you also manage
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  to keep your weight down. But the culture lies. I
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  want to tell you that what you're looking for is
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  already inside you. You've heard this before, But the holy
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  thing inside you really is that which causes you to
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  seek it. You can't buy it, lease it, rent it
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  and date it, or apply for it. The best job
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  in the world can't give it to you. I'm not
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  sure when young minds start to really listen to older minds.
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  I did long after June ninth, nineteen sixty six. I
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  wish I'd listened soon. Lonnie Kane retired managing editor of
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  The Times in Ottawa. Also so was a reporter for
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  the Herald News in Juliet in the nineteen seventies. His
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  paperwork email is Lonniejcine at gmail dot com or mail
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  the News Tribune four to twenty six Second Street, Lasalleil
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  six one three zero one