Now comes the summer, and then Cornell! This summer is a new kind of summer for me. Since I was in elementary school, I have been going away (either to a camp or teen tour or foreign country) for the entire summer. This time, I am spending it in Scarsdale. I have no official job, although I will be babysitting and volunteering at two farms.
People (including my wise friends) often say that my generation, and especially those in my generation that live in Scarsdale, is a victim of the micromanaged, overly scheduled, hover-parenting culture we have been raised in. At Scarsdale High School, students who can write an essay, text their friends, and solve a calculus problem are praised because they are the ones that are actually able to complete all of the work, and then some, at one time. In each moment at school, we know and think of the multitude of other tasks and activities we could also be doing at that same moment or what we will have to finish later. This mindset may set us up for success at SHS, but it can lead to a serious feeling of being incapable or of being overwhelmed. I find that for a lot of kids, this kind of pressure does not wane in the summer months. When we have little to do, or little to do of importance or meaning for us, we can feel overwhelmed by the absence of stress and pressure. While walking with a friend recently, we decided that the only thing more stressful than being stressed about what we have to do, is being stressed trying to fill our days. This seems pretty absurd, but it can be the case.
This post may not seem like it has much to do with local food, but here's the tie-in. In gardening, as in many other aspects of life, things can't be rushed or pressured to do certain things. You can't just will a tomato to ripen. And in the span of an hour or a day, there may not appear to have been much progress. But, if we learn to look at and examine things at the end of each day or week, we'll see really just how much has been accomplished. In Scarsdale, living life day by day seems an almost primitive life philosophy. Yet, we marvel at the laid-back attitudes of many European and Latin American cultures. What's their secret? Appreciating things as they come, learning to wait, and living in the moment.
So, for all those SHS grads out there, take a moment to breathe without doing anything else. Try to adapt to the stressless days of an unemployed teen in Scarsdale--at least until you go back to school.
