When I was in high school, I was the editor of the yearbook. (I know, what a surprise… the girl who documents everything via photograph and occasional, clever captions was a yearbook editor.) Anyways, at the end of my junior year, I skipped school one day, my co-editor Allison and I drove down to some random-ass hotel in South Jersey and met with Bonnie, our representative from the yearbook company, and an artist to design the cover for next year’s yearbook. Upon arrival, Bonnie presented both of us with bookmarks. I looked up at the curly-haired, eccentric, large-necklace-wearing woman with a little bit of confusion. A bookmark? It’s 2011. We make this book online. But as the weight of the bookmark shifted in my hand, I realized that it was in fact, moderately heavy. Well, heavy compared to what I expected a paper bookmark to weigh. There were two gold pins attached, shaped like starfish. Bonnie explained that it was her favorite story and that we should give one of the pins to someone else, and in turn, share the story. We sat there silently reading the small print on the bookmark. Incredible. This story epitomized the very core of my beliefs.
Fast-forward to today, March 28, 2014. I am 20 years old and very far removed from that day. My goals have since changed dramatically, as they should have. My ambitions are different. I live in a different state. I live a completely different life. It’s importance is exactly the same. And yet, I have this bookmark and pin thumb-tacked to the corkboard behind my desk. It’s not just a decoration that sits there idly either, I read it weekly. I’m positive that it will come up in many posts to come, so I’m going to go ahead and paste it into this post (because in my nature, I typed it up into a Word document long ago so that I could share it more easily). I’m not going to comment on it or break it down or share why it matters so much to me right now. I want you to decide what it means to you first and how it will or won’t change the way that you interact with the world around you. That being said, my thoughts are to come. I promise.
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The Starfish Story
Adapted from The Star Thrower by Lored Eiseley
Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.
One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young girl, and that what she was doing was not dancing at all. The young girl was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.
He came closer still and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young girl paused, looked up, and replied, “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”
“I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” asked the somewhat startled wise man.
To this, the young girl replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”
Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, “But, young girl, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”
At this time, the young girl bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, she said, “It made a difference for that one.”
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(If you’re wondering what I did with the 2nd starfish pin, I gave it to one of my best friends, Annie. Annie is a phenomenal writer. In fact, she edits most of my posts and many of my papers. For her 17th birthday, I bought her a fancy leather notebook. I decided to fill 34 pages of it (17×2) with poems, stories, memories, letters, and wishes. On one of those pages, I copied the story in and pinned the starfish to the page.)
wolfandafish 