Finding Orion

Daily problems can seem so large until you go outside and realize how very small we all are.  We are only here for a brief time and no matter how much we agonize over problems, the vast universe will still inspire us and keep us in balance.

I teach a freshman seminar in the Sharpe Communtiy Scholars Program.  It is a writing intensive course that urges students to examine the various pathways of engagement that they navigate over time. The course provides students the opportunity to confront conflicting values and beliefs and to use that disorientation as a tool of integration and growth for developing their own paths of civic engagement.  I do not tell students what to think; they learn how to think more citically.  Students are assigned to read all sorts of conflicting material.  This is difficult.  It is both exhilarating and frustrating.  It is what how the class works best though.  Students are urged to get the facts, sort through them and then take a stand.

It can also take the soul out of engagement.  So together we infuse inspiration injections into the class.  Here’s an example that I wrote recently.  It’s a little bit about service, a little bit about college and a lot about life perspective.

Good evening.   Thank you for convening at such short notice.  You must be a bit anxious having been called to a company meeting by the CEO.  I assure you my message will be short, yet with great purpose. I stand for you tonight a tired and defeated.  Life has taken its toll.  I have been fighting a losing battle for some 35 years and tonight I am resigned to admit my failure.  Effective immediately I am stepping down as the CEO.  I will begin my retirement, or rebirth tomorrow.

Now, the real message I submit is one that is much more significant.  I have listened to others communicate this very same message to me, countless times I bet, if only I had been willing to listen.  Most of you do not know me.  Sure, my name is on your paycheck and more than a few of you step more quickly when you see me approaching your office.  Revenue is up and job creation is at an all time high.  Our Board considers me successful, but I have failed at the most important game in life.  That is living it.  I have missed so much.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself.  I was born outside of Detroit, Michigan.  I am the eldest son in a family of four.  My mother stayed home to raise me and my brother and my father stayed at work to make sure enough money made its way home.  He was a kind and gentle soul and according to his colleagues he loved both me and my brother dearly. He never made it to baseball and soccer games and he did not witness my spelling bee victory.  He never met my prom date and his job kept him from teaching me to drive.  My father passed away a year after he retired and at his funeral I finally learned about his affection for his family. For a time I was determined not to be like my father, but that faded.  I was sent off to college with heavy expectation to succeed.

In college I was paired with a roommate that could not have been more different than me.  He had an ease in his step and he took every opportunity to experience life OUTSIDE of the classroom.  He made it a point to act childish ever chance he got.  He was known for his spontaneity and at the time I considered it procrastination.

Each night he would escape from our room just about the time I was ready to settle in to sleep.  Sometimes he would be gone for just a few minutes and other times I fell asleep before he returned.  One cold night in January I asked him where he went.  He humbly replied that every night he looks to the sky to find the constellation Orion, the hunter.  Sometimes it takes a while to make it out, sometimes he is unsuccessful and some nights it glimmers bright as though he can reach up and touch it.

What could he be hunting for?

He told me that no matter where he is, and no matter what the challenges he searches out Orion as a way to re-center himself.  Daily problems can seem so large until you go outside and realize how very small we all are.  We are only here for a brief time and no matter how much we agonize over problems, the vast universe will still inspire us and keep us in balance.

I concluded quickly that his effort to be balanced each night was but a childlike ritual that would surely fade with age and wisdom.  I did not stay in contact with my freshman roommate.  We exchanged cards sporadically for a decade or so after graduation.  He married his college sweetheart and settled in the country on several acres of land.  He had three children I believe and he once remarked at how clear Orion is in the country.

I never married and subsequently I do not have children.  I have never experienced love.  I could have, I bet, if I looked for it.  I have been succesful in my work, but maybe not in life.  I have to find the right path, the path that finds purpose and meaning.

I went outside last night and for the first time I looked up to the heavens to seek out Orion.  I did not know where to look.  I must find my Orion.  I hope you will too, now, rather than later.