Michael Calkins:
CLASS OF 1996
Mojave Vista Elementary SchoolClass of 1996
Victorville, CA
Michael's Story
Michael is from Manteca, California. Michael's schools include Mojave Vista Elementary School.
Music Michael likes includes Bob Marley. Movies Michael likes include Saving Private Ryan, Superbad, I Hate Boring Movies. TV shows Michael likes include The Weather Channel, Saturday Night Live, Monk.
One of Michael's favorite quotes is:"I don't believe there is one âmeaning of lifeâ or even really a point to it. Call me existentialist, but itâs really not as bad
as it sounds. I think just enjoying life and being aware of whatâs going on around you is enough to have a life âwelllived.â
I hadnât been doing much of that recently, a discovery I made this afternoon. I get so caught up in things I have
to do that I forget to notice and appreciate the âlittle things,â which are actually very big, important things.
The most perfect moment Iâve had, or noticed, in a long time happened today. It wasnât anything amazing really; I was
just taking the trash out. Nicholas and I were walking to the trash bins, and as usual he was dawdling and I was telling
him to hurry up. But then I thought, why hurry? Why am I in a rush? I have no other obligations. So we spent half an
hour doing something that could have taken five minutes. Fall always makes me happy, so just noticing how the cool air
made me feel was enough. Nicholas was so happy and content playing...Expand for more
with his toy car, pretending he was a super-hero,
and showing me how fast he can run. Watching Nicholas, feeling the sun and cool air on my skin, and being comfortable
in my favorite sweater, I felt euphoric, like wow it's great to be alive.
Most people measure their lives in âmilestones,â which are usually defined as big and life-changing events (graduating,
getting married, having kids...yadda yadda), but most of the things that I look back on with pleasure are actually the
everyday, mundane things that pass the days away. Like taking a walk on a beautiful day, laughing with Nicholas until my
stomach hurts, drinking fresh-squeezed orange juice, and realizing just how beautiful nature really is.
I donât want my life to settle around me so much that I âforgetâ to be happy, to hope, to play in freshly raked leaves and
just be. School is important, taking care of obligations is important, but just taking a breath and noticing something
beautiful around you is equally important. Because one day, if you donât forget to notice these little things, you can look
back on something, however painful it may have been, and think âwow, that was so beautiful.â
If you do this, then twenty years from now you may just recall taking out the trash on a particularly beautiful fall day,
and think that it was all worth it.
â Erin Lindsay, September 2007".
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