Completely in the Dark

“So, what’re you gonna do out there in the big, wide world?”

No record of who—if anyone—actually said that, but it’s likely I heard it from one of my parents’ friends on the eve of my high school graduation.

It squares with everything I’ve ever been told by teachers to church pastors, friends’ parents to employers—adults. You know, in the big, wide world, made by adults for adults.

From an early age it was abundantly clear: it’s not your place to create things in this world. Here you must get used to being only a small part of bigger and more important things: governments, multinational corporations, income taxes, life insurance, real estate, marriage and family, Wall Street investments and the lives of impossibly gorgeous pop stars.

So… know your place, you pip-squeak.

However, I’ve never believed that. That is, not in my heart of hearts.

It’s only…