The Act of Finding

The following remarks were delivered to The Middle and Upper School Community during Opening Convocation:

Each year, our administration reflects on our mission and guiding principles, on societal influences, and on our personal reaction and responses to the world in which we live. Our theme for the year is Finding Balance, Finding Joy. I will frame this theme for you and begin by sharing some experiences I have had when I am in the midst of “the act of finding.”

It is fun to find and to find out. There are three specific times in my life when I can identify rather clearly when I was in the midst of finding.

The first experience I will share is when I found a rare species. I have been a life-long reader of National Geographic and have followed numerous stories about their discoveries and the research surrounding them. When I read that a blue spotted salamander was becoming extinct in New England, I was aware of the many environmental reasons for protecting endangered species. The Blue-spotted Salamander, a creature that can live up to 20 years, (including the unisexual form) is legally protected pursuant to the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act.

 

Up the road from my home in Carlisle, this tiny creature was seen on a piece of land that a private developer and local landowner planned to change into a golf course. I had heard when someone sighted the blue spotted salamander on the land slated to be developed, all construction stopped for two years. Conflict rose over the wetland areas and strong measures were enforced to protect the habitats in that area.

I always associated blue animals with the tropics or the rain forests — something I associated with the magnificent photographs I would see in the National Geographic. Then one day I was in my front garden, which is fairly close to a main road, and as I reached forward to dig a small hole for a plant, I saw something move. There in front of me I found a salamander with the bluest, brightest spots I could imagine. It was beautiful. Discovering this blue spotted salamander created a feeling of surprise and excitement that quickly turned into a feeling of protection and worry. It was so near the road. Was I supposed to protect it? Move it? Leave it? I knew their diet included insects, worms, slugs, spiders, and millipedes, so the garden would benefit if I left it.

 

Finding this beautiful creature in its natural habitat left a lasting memory for me. I left it alone as it slowly moved away and under some leaves, and I never saw a blue spotted salamander again.

The second experience I want to share is when I needed to find my way off a steep, hard ski trail during a storm when skiing at Telluride Mountain in Colorado. Finding a way out from this double black diamond felt like a life or death act for me. I remember the trail was icy, way too steep, and a quickly developing hard driving snowstorm had set in, so much so that I could not see even two feet in front of me.

My mother taught me never to ski alone, but I felt alone. My ski partner had skied ahead of me and because of the visibility, there was no way I was going to find him. As I took one careful, hard turn after another I soon found a small sign at the edge of the trail. It read “WAY OUT” Could it actually be a way out, I wondered? I then heard my name and sure enough, my ski partner was at the trail’s edge yelling for me to take the “way out.” Finding that trail gave me the greatest sense of relief, and soon I was safely at the bottom of the mountain. Finding that way out was a great feeling to say the least.

The last experience I will share is when I found my soulmate. Without getting into personal details, I can tell you I was anything but looking, searching, or seeking. In fact, I was just hanging around with a friend I could trust. We would bike, ski, hike, hang out, just talk, and enjoy each other’s company. And then one day, I discovered this person was my main go-to-friend. Thirty-eight years later, I can say my husband still is that person, and by the way, he was the one shouting my name at the “Way Out” trail. Finding a friend that gets everything about you is a really good experience in life. It is that act of finding that makes much of life feel okay.

This act of finding is filled with fun; it is fun to discover, fun to have a quiet revealing experience, fun to seek, fun to be surprised, fun to secure something – these are all synonyms for the act of finding. Every new school year offers you an opportunity to find something.

Dora, in PIXAR’s movie “Finding Nemo,” said it well when she partnered with Nemo through the depths of the ocean. She yelled over her shoulder, “Hold on, here we go! Next stop, knowledge!”

Finding knowledge is fun. I hope you enjoy your journey “of finding” this year.