I Don’t Know Enough

I was listening to an outgoing senior welcome some freshmen at a university in 2008. I was really anxious about the future.

He said, “I don’t know enough to be pessimistic.”

I wrote, “Maybe it’s not the Time of Icarus after all. Maybe it’s just hard times and changing times.”

My fears of the future later subsided. I learned that the power behind them was my dear daughter leaving home. Transference is a thing. One wise question proved it to me.

We haven’t fixed any of the things I was worried about. My fears of the future have flared and died back many times since then. I come back to the young person’s words. I still don’t know enough to be that intensely afraid.