I Dare You to Move
“When you leave you will close the door behind you. Don’t we always? But time will make amends, to old friends.”
* * *
“Aware that my days . . . are winding down, I am encouraged by lines from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, that go, ‘There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries.’ That tide, I am afraid, has now come for me, and I have chosen to take it ‘at the flood.’ I can only hope that with this new adventure in search of good fortune, I, like Odysseus setting sail for the fabled city of Troy, may one day— some time soon and God-willing— find myself back home to my beloved Ithaka.”
* * *
Looking out his office window, gazing towards the dull grey horizon that was Manila Bay, he wondered, what does the future have in store for me? What new things await me beyond that horizon?
He knew that there was no turning back now. He made sure that he was leaving nothing behind, not that he had very many things to hold on to. He was afraid, but he was hopeful. He knew that he was never coming back.
He knew that there was no turning back now. He made sure that he was leaving nothing behind, not that he had very many things to hold on to. He was afraid, but he was hopeful. He knew that he was never coming back.
* * *
“… Come, my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’
I’ve been thinking about that poem a lot lately. And I think what it says is that, while it’s tempting to play it safe, the more we’re willing to risk, the more alive we are. In the end, what we regret most are the chances we never took. And I hope that explains, at least a little, this journey on which I am about to embark. I have loved every minute with my KACL family, and all of you. For eleven years you've heard me say, ‘I’m listening.’ Well, you were listening, too. And for that I am eternally grateful. Goodnight, Seattle.”
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’
I’ve been thinking about that poem a lot lately. And I think what it says is that, while it’s tempting to play it safe, the more we’re willing to risk, the more alive we are. In the end, what we regret most are the chances we never took. And I hope that explains, at least a little, this journey on which I am about to embark. I have loved every minute with my KACL family, and all of you. For eleven years you've heard me say, ‘I’m listening.’ Well, you were listening, too. And for that I am eternally grateful. Goodnight, Seattle.”
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