Perspective

Once upon a time at St. Francis High School, a teacher told a class full of apathetic Juniors that they should be reading the newspaper every night, that they should be watching the news. "You should," he said, "concern yourselves with the world beyond your own." Looking back, I appreciate his point, but at the time, I did not. The thought of reading the news section of the newspaper sounded spectacularly boring. I’ve come full circle since then. I don’t get the newspaper (It’s sad to say, but who has time to read the newspaper every day?), but I do try to listen to a run-down of the news every morning and afternoon. Usually it’s frustrating and depressing, once in a while it’s infuriating, and once in a great while, it gives me hope. I would like Violet to grow up with a sense of curiosity about the world beyond what she knows and a sense of responsibility about staying informed, but more than that, I want her to have a stronger sense of something I often forget about – perspective. I came across a quote from Ben Hecht, a screenwriter from the 1930s and 40s, that sums it up nicely:

Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand.

329 days old