Peer Muses Share Graduation Wisdom

 

            Art Linkletter, who had a teaching degree but left the classroom to make his career as a comedian on radio and later a newfangled invention called television, was perhaps at his best when interviewing children on “Kids Say the Darndest Things.”

 

            In truth, the show could have been called “Kids Say the Funniest Things.”

 

            This grainy black-and-white flashback came to mind the other day when, while researching something I cannot even now recall, I by chance – more specifically by wonderful, happy, serendipitous chance – happened across a website filled with insight and beauty and sage truth.

 

            The web page could be called “Kids Say the Wisest Things.” Instead, it is more appropriately and elegantly titled “Calliopeia” in honor of Calliope – the “Fair Voiced” or “Beautiful Voiced” muse of epic poetry in Greek mythology.

 

The daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, Calliope is believed to have been Homer’s muse and the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad, no less. Her lofty pedestal rose into the ozone.

 

Thanks to “Calliopeia” and its posted epigrams – “a pithy saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever, memorable and amusing way” – written by high school senior English students for their teacher “Bobbi,” Calliope today serves also as the muse for graduation wisdom. This is all the more fitting since Calliope is generally depicted holding a writing tablet or a book, or both, and wearing a crown of gold. In other words, she seems dressed to give a high school commencement address.

 

Here, then, is some advice for a dear friend of mine who graduates from a local high school next week – and indeed for the members of every high school and college and middle school and elementary school Class of 2013.

 

Ashley, with the first clarion call:

 

“Love is the purest bliss and the most agonizing heartache. A life without love is not lived, only endured.”

 

How can an 18-year-old be such a wise old soul?

 

The genius of Aubrey’s imagery and insight:

 

“Friendship is the jelly on the toast of life. Love is the blanket that keeps your heart from growing cold.”

 

Comfort food and warmth goes a long way, especially when shared with a friend.

 

Lorianne is undoubtedly another kind, warm friend:

 

“Friends are like the ties in a quilt. The more you tie, the better the quilt stays together.”

 

Robert Fulghum doesn’t say it any prettier in his essay “These are the things I learned (in Kindergarten)” with the line, “When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.”

 

Derek, humble and noble:

 

“Love is the word we use to encompass all of the good feelings that we can’t describe.”

 

That extremely aptly describes the indescribable.

 

And Kerrie equally describes love as attentively, and as purely, as any poet: “Love is what helps you notice the stars and forget about the darkness of the night.”

 

Hilary’s empathy is a lesson for us all:

 

“If I cannot mold myself to how I wish to be, how can I expect others to be entirely to my liking?”

 

I, for one, wish to be more like her.

 

The sage perception of Jared the cultivator:

 

“People do not nearly esteem highly enough the dirt that makes the flowers beautiful.”

 

Shakespeare’s prose, “The earth gas music for those who listen,” could sing a duet with the high school bard’s astute thought.

 

Jenny’s words similarly cause me pause: “A rose looks beautiful in a vase but lives in a garden.” This contemplation, like the emotions of a graduation ceremony, brings me near tears and nearer to enlightenment.

 

And lastly, Marissa, the old soul, reminds us: “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the weak voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I’ll try again tomorrow.’  ”

 

            At the end of the day, thanks to these poetic students who are also great teachers – and, in truth, thanks to all the courageous young people in all the Classes of 2013 – I know our tomorrows will be in good hands. The fair-voiced Calliope would be pleased.

 

 

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Woody Woodburn’s new book, WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” is available for pre-order at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1138392258/wooden-and-me-book-and-e-book

 

            Woody writes a weekly column for the Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com