Work of Noble Note

Today I turned twenty-four years old. I have grown and matured a great deal in the last several years, particularly since graduating from college and setting out on my own. As I do every year around this time, I’ve spent a great deal thinking about what it means to become, not only an adult, but a successful adult.

When you are in school, success is easily defined; it is a list of numbers or letters on a piece of paper that comes at set intervals. Throughout elementary school, middle school, high school, and college, your life plans are pretty much set; expectations and success remain well-defined. After that, however, things become more complicated.

What do you want?

What do you want out of life?

I’ve asked many, many people this question. I’ve only received a few answers in return. “I don’t know” is a pretty common one; a lot of people (less goal-oriented than I am) just like to take life as it comes. The general consensus, though, is that a good life is one with financial security, a good group of friends, maybe a family, and generally being nice to people and vice versa. Everyone from Uber drivers to my fellow Harvard alumni wants pretty much the same thing.

In a way, this is encouraging. We can spend a lot of time warning each other against the pursuit of wealth, explaining how money can’t make you happy and material things can’t make up for lost friendships and family time. This is undeniably true – the psychology is clear – but in my experience, most people know this. They aren’t looking to be rich and famous; they’re looking to be stable and comfortable.

But comfortable just isn’t enough for me.

Something More

From as early as I can remember, I have wanted something more out of life – something grand, something adventurous, something wonderful, something that will last. I want to be caught up in great and glorious things, to give myself entirely to them, not because I want to be important or recognized, but because my spirit thirsts for high purpose. In Shakespeare’s immortal words, if it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul alive.

I used to think such things weren’t possible, that they never existed outside of myths, novels, and, perhaps, very ancient history. The world is just too big and chaotic to make a real difference in; we must instead simply do the little things with great love. Anything more will have to wait for Heaven. I used to believe that. But over the past several years, my belief has changed – or rather, I have begun to believe again.

Work of Noble Note

For my birthday, I bought myself a 534-page history of the Plantagenets, one of the ruling dynasties of Middle Ages England. I read it in two days. It was an excellent history – I may have to write a couple more posts on it – but throughout its myriad stories of England’s dizzyingly turbulent history, one thing was starkly clear: the course of the world is shaped by individual people, individual decisions, and individual moments.

All our trends and statistics are just generalizations; they do not drive anything. They do not cause anything. They are just descriptions of what usually happens. That is why they work so well in retrospect and so poorly in predictions – who foresaw 2016’s election results? History is not made up of generalities; it is made up of people, and people are not predictable. But they are important.

And so, after a long journey through the shadows of disillusionment and apathy, I am writing today to say that I believe again. I believe in the power of one man to alter the course of history. I believe in the power of individual beliefs, choices, and lives to change communities, society and, ultimately, the world. I believe we can make a difference, and I believe that difference will matter in the end. I believe, in the words of another of my favorite English writers, that:

“Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done…
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.”

“Birthday cake” by Marion Doss is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0