I am a Little Red Lighthouse
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| Photo by Jeff Bogumil |
Do you know the story of The Little Red Lighthouse? Captain Kangaroo used to read the book to us as we sat cross-legged on the floors in front of our black-and-white, 13-inch television sets. We couldn't have been more absorbed as we heard the tale of the tiny lighthouse that stood at the side of a vast river, shining its beam into the night as ships navigated the rocky channel. And we teared up a little when the towering Great Grey Bridge was built next to the lighthouse with its enormous search-lamps that illuminated the entire sky, making Little Red feel so useless and insignificant. The lesson of the story -- that each of us, no matter how seemingly modest our contributions, can make a critical difference to someone or something -- continues to inspire my work every day. (By the way, you can find the lighthouse and bridge in New York City: visit the Manhattan side of the George Washington Bridge and there it is. See photo above. What a wonderful treat for children and adults who have read the book or heard the story!)
I was in my early fifties when I finally realized that so often it's been the simplest things that have taught me the most profound lessons of my adulthood: the lyrics to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," (thank you Wayne Dyer for showing us how meaningful that little song is for each of us); Stone Soup -- another lovely book that Captain Kangaroo introduced me to, describing the best side of competitiveness among neighbors; and an elegant first "experiment" in my Honors Marine Science Lab at Orange Coast College, during which our lab groups attempted to measure the temperature of boiling tap water and learned volumes about experimental error. Each of these has been life-changing for me.
What simple lessons have changed your life for the better?
