Six Hours And Six Minutes Ago...

Graduation day:

Dreams are as easy as kites

keep chasing them

whatever you want to be and think and do,

that's you

This week I watched an intern folding pages in his notebook, then glance at people pushing out of the antique General Store.

Excuse me, he said.

They looked.

He paused.

Would you answer a question for me?

I added, we're from the Bee…

What advice would you give to graduating seniors? he asked.

I watched people's eyes search the sky, trace cracks in the ground, then squint at the intern who waited with his pencil touching an empty page.

I did not answer, but I thought: the world sparkles brightest after senior year, burning the last residues of childhood daydreams. Everything is smooth skin and tan lines. Girls glazed in Coppertone doze on the sand chewing gently on recent gossip. Or maybe not. Maybe there are time clocks and supervisors, flat tires and break-ups. Maybe there is rent due and work is scarce.

So, what's my advice? Dreams are as easy as kites … but they'll crash to the ground without us. Open your heart and bleed a little. Do something just to see if you can do it. Learn how to walk away smiling after failing terribly. Don't do what makes sense, do what makes you happy. That last one, that's a toughie, by the way.