Bewilderment

by Richard Powers

Teaching is like photosynthesis: making food from air and light.

LIFE ASSEMBLES ITSELF on accumulating mistakes.

My son was a troubled boy, hurt by seeing what the sleepwalking world could not. An offbeat therapy had made him a little happier. Maybe showing him on camera being himself could beat whatever sensationalism Ova Nova might create out of Currier’s clips and sales talks.

All he says is, Lots of good eats out here, if you know where to look. EVERYBODY’S BROKEN,

We could learn to live here, on Earth, without fear.

I finished by showing Robbie’s painting while quoting Sagan: We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers.

He nodded, forwarding the memory to us in the future. Everything looks different on different planets. That’s why we need to find them. “I