I remember my father weeping when President Kennedy was shot. For a 12-year-old to see their father weep uncontrollably — a bomber pilot who in 87 missions had seen the world’s pain, a man who in that darkness loved quoting the soaring idealism of Don Quixote — was wrenching and bewildering. He was heartsick. Kennedy […]
Seeking Haystacks
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Seeking Haystacks: One must imagine Sisyphus happy
The other night, I asked my students: If you are dedicated to righting a “wrong” in our world — say addressing your most urgent environmental issue, with inspired and assiduous effort — yet your efforts bring no change to the world, would you continue to engage, or give up? There was a long pause, and […]
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Seeking Haystacks: Dreaming
“I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” — Martin Luther King Jr. Dreams are […]
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Seeking Haystacks: Wonder
This fall, in our 25th year of Tomorrow’s Voices classes, 32 high school students will read the Phaedo. In it, Socrates argues that in an age of widespread disinformation and political corruption, it is far too easy to become misanthropic and misologic — hating reasoning and introspection. Ultimately, the dialogue speaks to the power of […]
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Seeking Haystacks: Collective innocence
In third grade, Ms. Ames kept us spellbound for weeks, months even, in a state of wonder, reading us versions of “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” We discussed who was heroic, and what it looked like to have virtue, to be brave, to be kind. It was my first exposure to what it meant to look […]
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Seeking Haystacks: Home
The town of Aspen is founded on a gentle pitch that leans ever so slightly from north to south, from Little Nell to the Music Tent. As the Earth moves toward the March Equinox, the melting snow moves northward from Aspen Mountain toward the Roaring Fork River. It is imperceptible to most unless you are […]
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Seeking Haystacks: Part of ‘the good fight’
My class recently came to our house for the end-of-the-year dinner. It is always a tender time as we get to appreciate them for what they have done, what they have given us and who they are! We ate, marveling at a large bull snake that seemed to want to share our burritos, and then […]
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Seeking Haystacks: When we come to it
When we come to it We, this people, on this wayward, floating body Created on this earth, of this earth Have the power to fashion for this earth A climate where every man and every womanCan live freely without sanctimonious piety Without crippling fear When we come to it We must confess that we are the possible We are the miraculous, the […]
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Seeking Haystacks: ‘Only connect’
A few weeks ago, Kade Gianinetti, a student from my 2006 Tomorrow’s Voices class, came to our current class. Later, he wrote to me: I’m still thinking about your class last night. The conversation about activism, privilege, and community connection stuck with me. The discussion around how socioeconomic circumstances affect our capacity to engage with […]
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Seeking Haystacks: Reclaiming character
My father was a B-24 bomber pilot during World War ll. After 87 missions, he was alive, brave, talented, funny and wickedly intolerant of anyone inauthentic. He despised the braggart, boasting of unearned privilege. He had been in positions where honor and honesty matter — were key to life. He distrusted leaders who thought different rules […]