WISDOM OF THE YOUNG

My granddaughter Hannah, who will be a junior next fall at the performance arts high school Booker T. Washington in Dallas, is an aspiring playwright. Recently a one-act play she wrote was one of five out of 60+ entries from the north Texas area high schools to be presented this past Saturday at Booker T. during PUP Fest.

"Playwrights Under Progress (PUP) Fest is a unique project co-produced with local youth organization Junior Players. As part of the New Works Festival, PUP Fest features an afternoon of five world premiere staged readings written and performed by some of the Metroplex's finest high school talent and developed through playwriting workshops." Kitchen Dog Theater - PUP 

Hannah's father and brother Cameron attended the production, and Craig said his daughter's play was "absolutely wonderful". It is about the problems of a young, gay high school student. Supposedly, videos of these plays will be posted on YouTube in the near future. 

Hannah's cousin Audrey, my oldest granddaughter who now lives in Austin, is a talented writer as well. She writes on a blog called ONE WORLD, TWO FEET along with other "explorers" of our beautiful planet. They write brief posts along with amazing photographs of their adventures that they take as well.

Audrey, an environmental scientist, has recently taken a job with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) as a Habitat Exchange Program Specialist, working on the threat to the extinction of the monarch butterfly. EDF has offices all over the U.S., Europe, Mexico, and China. Their mission is creating "solutions that let nature and people prosper." by working toward "stabilizing the climate, feeding the world, and protecting our health (safer household products through chemical policy reform and corporate partnerships)." Saving the planet and all living things is a big job. One that Audrey has been devoted to and planning for most of her young life. 

PATTERN RECOGNITION

Audrey's brother, Tanner, is a senior in high school this coming fall. Besides being an honor student, and preparing to attend a favorite Ivy League college, among Tanner's many accomplishments is the ability to write. I was so impressed with an essay he wrote for his English class this spring that I asked him for permission to quote some of it. 

"When I was just a little tyke, my father and I would often ride bikes to a sandwich shop for lunch. I fondly remember these adventures, as my father would engage me in a wide variety of interesting topics. I remember one discussion in particular, one about the impact of pattern recognition on how we humans interact with our world. I have continued to think about this topic ever since that discussion. Humans excel at identifying patterns -- indeed, this ability is key to mastering our environment. This ability to recognize both dangers and opportunities has carried us to the top of the food web. However, we are so proficient at recognizing patterns that we often find patterns which simply do not exist."

"..Humans innately categorize everything. Although this is a largely beneficial trait, it is my belief that this tendency to categorize causes many societal issues. Those who are not like 'us' because they act differently than 'we' do, make 'us' uncomfortable. Those who do not fit into the predetermined categories that we subconsciously create make 'us'  feel uncomfortable and afraid. Sometimes, violence arises from this fear. Thus, massive injustices such as xenophobia and racism occur.."

EDITOR: And of course, homophobia, as we witnessed this past week in the tragedy at the nightclub in Orlando. 

More next time on my other grands. All stay so involved in all aspects of our world today. The arts, science, sports, and life in general. Sometimes it tires me to even contemplate their busy lives. But overriding it all is pride in their accomplishments and their parents (my children) who are doing such a magnificent job. 

Peace and Love,

Marilyn