Found and Bliss : Longer Than a Tweet

I read a twitter post the other day, that asked "what year did you graduate from high school?"

Well, this is what I discovered when I read some of the responses:

99% of the comments said that they graduated in1990s, 2000s, 2010s

So when you read my words, what do you need to know about me? My answer will take something longer than a tweet to tell you.

This medium of communication and all the others we now use daily are built on the perspective of the contributors and of the readers.

And those who were seen dancing

were thought to be insane

by those who could not hear the music.

Friedrich Nietzsche

It made me think that most of the people who read my tweets were not born when I graduated high school. That they likely don't know about our struggle for girls to wear pants, never mind blue jeans to school. That there used to be a day when male teachers wore suits and ties, and the few female high school teachers that you knew always wore a dress.

The comments to the question made me realize that at the other end of my tweet many might not understand...

the responsibility of attending a university we faced, of moving out from home, of getting an immediate job, and then quickly getting married

because now that year of high school graduation is often followed by a gap year and further education has casually been shortened to uni, which makes it sound more like a summer camp to me

Yet, I applaud my readers for their bravado, their enthusiasm, their hope. They have not been confined by what is to come. They don't know of domineering bosses, angry landlords, and orthodontic payments for the kids.

Oh, enjoy this time, I say. You should. You really, really should.

Longer Than a Tweet

The world that was waiting for me when I graduated high school, was naive in its beliefs of forever marriage and birth-control, and rules of the church. We walked a narrow road.

We don't have hundreds of 'friends' as is common now. But we have long-term friendships some of which still survive forty years later.

And we know that they are people who will come in the middle of the night and tell you the truth.

So how do we connect and listen to each other as we tweet? For each intervening decade has brought its own suitcase of worries and complaints, fears and plans.

But let me tell you this, under all our differences, we are the same regardless of what year we graduated from high school. Each one is searching.

Longer Than a Tweet

And when you see your moment of truth, you'll know. Believe me, on this one. (Tweet This)

Some of the roads I have walked, I beg you not to tread! Some of the disasters coming towards you, have been faced before - turn to someone who graduated earlier, they will help you. Just as we will ask you some silly questions about gigabytes, or how to change the security on our social media accounts. Have patience with us, as we continue to have with you, as you learn.

I graduated from high school, while many of your parents were in high school. And like most people I know, we are still trying to make your life better.