A letter written by the author Kurt Vonnegut recently
tickled my memory about a cherished childhood book, The Velveteen Rabbit. The stuffed rabbit sewn from velveteen fabric
was received by a little boy on Christmas.
But the boy shuns the rabbit for more modern toys and even real rabbits
ignore him. He laments to the oldest and
wisest nursery toy, a horse that was his uncle’s favorite toy. The horse tells the rabbit that some toys
like himself magically become real when children genuinely love them. Finally, one night the boy is given the
rabbit to sleep with and it becomes the boy’s constant companion. His velveteen finish becomes worn with hugs and
playtime but that is no matter to the rabbit.
The boy sadly contracts an infectious disease and the rabbit
never leaves his side. But soon the boy
is sent away to recover and all the nursery contents including the shabby rabbit
are gathered to be burned. Reflecting on
his close life and adventures with the boy the rabbit sheds a real tear which
prompts a nursery fairy to appear. She
announces that since the rabbit has become real to the boy who truly loves him,
she will assist him into becoming real to everyone.
Vonnegut was
responding to a high school English class asking for advice from famous authors. And I loved his response in part:
“Practice any art,
music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction,
essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but
to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul
grow.”
I’ve tried to look at life as an endless series of adventures to be experienced while we still have the good fortune to give it a whirl. Not every adventure has a fairy tale ending, but no adventure is lost if we don’t lose the lesson and we profit from it. And I’ve encountered a legion of memorable people along the yellow brick road that have shared a love of life, helped me grow and, like the velveteen rabbit, contributed to my own experience of becoming.
"People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive."
-- Joseph Campbell
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