I remember a very specific speech from my high school band teacher to the whole band. I don’t remember the context of the speech, or even what year of high school it was said, but my mind drifts to the contents of the speech nearly every day.
He spoke about each individual person’s “pilot light”, like the pilot light on a gas furnace, and how you have to keep that light burning inside of you. What I remember about the speech most is the passion with which he spoke about life and what it could be and all the things that were to come. I remember him sharing statistics about how many top executives were in high school band and all the things we could do with our lives. They were nice words then, but they were the kind of words that had lasting impact, beyond almost any other speech I can remember.
It took years before I could appreciate the amount of energy he put into inspiring his students, all his students, even those who weren’t musically gifted. Maybe I still can’t fully appreciate it all, but it does drive me to do better every day and to focus on “keeping my pilot light glowing strong”.
Keeping my pilot light burning has something to do with identifying my specific motivators, but, I think it has even more to do with waking up every single day with passion, creativity and drive to end each day as a better person with the world in slightly better shape.
Some days the goal isn’t accomplished. I end the day perhaps as a slightly lesser person. Some days I may even leave the world in slightly worse shape. That’s the nature of life. You have to keep your light burning despite those days you wish you could do over, the days you wish you could erase from the story.
And then, there are other days. Days that stoke the fire so intensely that appears to unlock new areas of the brain and new ways of solving problems. Days from which you can almost drink the excitement of things to come, problems solved and things accomplished.
Some days that excitement comes from my husband and our furry family, some days that comes from running and some days it comes from solving really difficult problem.
Today, however, like many days, it comes from spending one hour a week in the classroom. I’m in my fifth year and eighth program volunteer
I’m in my fifth year and eighth program volunteering for local not-for-profit Girl Inc, whose mission is dedicated to inspiring girls to be strong, smart and bold. They set two volunteers up with a great deal of support and tools and the volunteers pair up to teach a classroom of young women 1 hour per week for six weeks. Topics range from conflict resolution to media smarts to body image, each targeted at inspiring the girls in the room.
What I find, however, is that I’m the one who walks out of nearly every week newly inspired and with my pilot light burning a bit brighter each time. As the weeks progress we watch confidence grow in attendees and new friendships expand. We talk about really hard issues and try to listen and question and encourage each girl to think. I try to give back that same energy I get from sharing my time with the girls, and then some.
To the girls, perhaps we’re just strangers that pop in each week. Most likely the impact of our words aren’t fully heard or fully understood by the girls. But maybe, just maybe, a few years down the line they can look back and remember some of the lessons from these few hours and the impact of their words will have the same staying power that my band teacher’s pilot light speech had on me, all these years later.
I love writing.
Years of Firsts 