Desiderata - The Things Most Wanted or Needed

Desiderata
[00:00:00] FAWN: Welcome back everybody. Hi. Hello. All right. Listen to this. Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story.
[00:00:29] FAWN: Avoid loud and aggressive persons. They are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter. For always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
[00:00:46] FAWN: Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however, humble;
[00:00:54] FAWN: it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to the virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
[00:01:16] FAWN: Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment. It is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the council of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. 
[00:01:39] FAWN: Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt, the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive of him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace in your soul.
[00:02:24] FAWN: With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. This is disa. Ugh, the pronunciation, honey. Oh dear. This is De Deta Deta. Desiderata Deta.
[00:02:48] FAWN: Desiderata is a plural noun with a singular form. Deter. Deter, oh my God, honey. Desideratum meaning things wanted or needed. It's also the title of a very famous poem written by an American poet , and lawyer Max Ehrmann in 1927. We've been sharing what friends have been bringing across our path or what comes across our path.
[00:03:20] FAWN: Usually it happens through friends, right? 
[00:03:23] MATT: And pretty organically. 
[00:03:24] FAWN: And so , this is what happened. This came across my path, I wanted to share it with you today. So what do you think about it? You had known about it. I didn't know what this was.
[00:03:36] MATT: Well, you know about it because of Pierre Trudeau in like 1970 something. He quoted the end of it when he lost reelection as prime Minister of Canada. 
[00:03:46] FAWN: Oh,
[00:03:46] FAWN: he did You know about it?
[00:03:47] FAWN: I didn't. I don't know about that. 
[00:03:48] MATT: You know about it because it was next to the bedside where Adlai Stevenson passed away.
[00:03:54] FAWN: Adlai Stevenson ran for President against Eisenhower and was the US ambassador to the un. 
[00:04:02] FAWN: Again, I didn't know about that.
[00:04:07] MATT: And you also realized that we could not have talked about this last year. One, it just dropped out of it's public domain now. 
[00:04:15] FAWN: Oh it is? 
[00:04:15] MATT: It is public domain as of 2023 because the original published date of this is actually 1927, and if you think about it, it's like, that was a long time ago. That was like, you know, grandfather, great-grandfather, maybe even great, great-grandfather's time.
[00:04:31] MATT: This was written in the era of the car just being here. It was after the Great War. It was in that period of the Roaring twenties slash Great Depression. And yet there's a lot of wisdom here, and this was not something that Max composed in haste. He actually started working on this in like 1922, and he wasn't satisfied with it until 1927.
[00:04:55] MATT: So 
[00:04:55] FAWN: after the pandemic. After the pandemic and which is now, we used to know of it as the Spanish flu. Right. But now we know of it as like the pandemic. Before the pandemic. We just lived through the pandemic 
[00:05:09] MATT: before the pandemic. Yes. Hmm. 
[00:05:12] FAWN: Yes. So the reason why this came across my way was we were talking about, something called the Mandela Effect.
[00:05:22] FAWN: And, and then I brought it up to you. I'm like, honey, do you know what the, I thought it was called the mandala, like, you know, the mandala? Mm-hmm. The shape and stuff. And then I realized, no, it's, it's Mandela like Nelson Mandela effect. And so, It's something that you have been warning me about for years.
[00:05:42] FAWN: The fact that it's really important to pay attention to what you remember or what you read because things can get erased. History can change because of someone just writing something else about it, right? For example, like Wikipedia, that anyone can write anything. And that's just assumed to be correct.
[00:06:04] MATT: Well, and it, it is an interesting thing. Certainly pages on Scientology have been amended and re amended and amended and all sorts of things where they've had to like finally get to a point because two sides are warring over basically the page that they have to freeze it at some point. But yes, history is now officially folks, it's very malleable.
[00:06:26] MATT: I mean, it always was. You always talk. It's about, but it's 
[00:06:29] FAWN: even more so you always talk about, um, original Photoshop. The original Photoshop is how you do it, right? 
[00:06:36] MATT: Uncle Joe Stalin, which was one of the terms people gave him. He was, he was kind of the first great dictator of and great as a terrible word of Russia, of the Union of Soviet socialist 
[00:06:48] FAWN: Publix.
[00:06:49] FAWN: First big , 
[00:06:50] MATT: dictator, and this was back around this time again, which is interesting. He would erase people from pictures in the twenties, 
[00:06:58] FAWN: so they ceased to exist. He would erase people from history basically. He, they never existed. He tried 
[00:07:04] MATT: to erase and he probably successfully did erase a few people from history.
[00:07:08] MATT: Absolutely. 
[00:07:10] FAWN: So a bunch of us were talking about the Mandela effects, how certain songs like Queen. We are the champions. The word world is taken out of it. So now if you listen to any recordings of it out there, it's different now. It makes you think, well, oh, I must have had it wrong this whole time.
[00:07:30] FAWN: If you were one of the people that actually had the record or has the record. You're like, oh, maybe I misunderstood, you know? Mm-hmm. Like, you start thinking, well, I'm wrong, obviously, because this is how it is. But it was, it's for sure we are the champions of the world. And now it doesn't say that anymore.
[00:07:48] MATT: It, it kind of is a, we are the champions of the world. 
[00:07:54] FAWN: It doesn't, the world is kind of gone from it, like, so I started looking at that. So anyway, we were talking about all this stuff. And I started to freak out. I'm like, this is terrible. I didn't feel so great about the world. And so someone said, read Desiderata
[00:08:11] FAWN: oh, honey Desi- read Desiderata 
[00:08:15] MATT: and it's almost like it was that generation sunscreen song, which 
[00:08:19] FAWN: is, oh my god, that's totally what I was thinking. Yeah, it is totally like the sunscreen song, but obviously this amazing. I, is it even a poem? It is just like, 
[00:08:33] MATT: it's considered prose, which is a form of poetry. Mm-hmm. 
[00:08:37] FAWN: But it's, it's, it helps.
[00:08:39] FAWN: I read it. I'm like, okay, well thank you for mentioning this and so I thought I would pass it along to you. The main message I get from it is the message we had from the previous episode was to know who you are to and to stand strong in who you are, who you know yourself to be and to be gentle with yourself.
[00:09:02] FAWN: What do you get from it? 
[00:09:03] MATT: And that's what's really interesting and nice about this particular poem is it feels like the kind of poem that can go with you your whole life. And it feels like a poem that different phrases will mean different things at different times. It's like I never used to get, before I had children,
[00:09:20] MATT: I never used to get that caught up in, you know, oh, a little kid, something, something weird's happening to them on the screen. It didn't, it didn't affect me to the level it does now. Right? It's, it's one of these kinds of poems because you look at things like, 
[00:09:33] MATT: avoid loud and aggressive persons, blah, blah, blah. Right? Totally get it. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter. That's well thought out because mm-hmm. If you look at someone else and you're like, oh, well my yardstick has me miles ahead of them, your vein, and if you look at them and it's like they feel miles ahead of you again, you, you go through an a similarly negative.
[00:09:58] MATT: Emotion, right? 
[00:10:00] FAWN: Like why bother, 
[00:10:01] MATT: right? Or, or they got lucky. Or you start making excuses or you just get bitter. 
[00:10:05] FAWN: It's just interesting. If you go with the flow, you realize how many signs are around you. So for example, the first line go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what piece there may be in silence.
[00:10:20] FAWN: I think of so many things like last episode we talked about don't take the bait. Right? And in that case, yeah, remember what peace there may be in silence. Don't take the bait. I also think like go placidly amid the noise and haste, go placidly. I've been teaching the kids to swim I have to basically show them not to panic. Right. Right. And so my voice is loud. And also I know that, sound carries over water. Mm-hmm. And I've noticed people have been listening to me teach the kids. And at first I was very, I. Self, self-conscious about it.
[00:11:04] FAWN: Like, oh my God, like, I'm not like lifeguard, I'm not right. You know, I taught myself how to swim, so I'm passing along whatever I have learned throughout the years, being in the water. I'm not an expert, so, oh, they're listening. I'm wondering what I'm saying wrong. And then I decided, you know what? I'm teaching them to swim.
[00:11:24] FAWN: I'm their mom. I know what I'm doing, so I'm just gonna keep talking. And then I realized they're actually listening to me because no one's teaching swimming like this. Mm-hmm. The way I'm doing it. So for example, I see the kids struggle and panic when we go into the deeper end, like as we're heading towards the deeper end, they start moving faster.
[00:11:46] FAWN: Like their arm movements are struggling, they're moving, and they're making a lot of commotion in the water. And I keep telling them struggle is trouble. Struggle is trouble. Calm down, go very slow, but with deliberate, powerful movements. But go slow and quietly in the water and that's how you stay afloat and that's how you can swim fast with power.
[00:12:16] FAWN: Slow it down. Struggle is trouble. And so go placidly amid the noise and haste. So you may be scared, there may be things happening. But go placidly. And same with driving. How many times does someone wanna like go around you and they drive recklessly? I'm like, just go ahead man. So I, you know, I let them go in front of me or they go in a reckless way in front of us to be in front of us, but we always end up at the same red light.
[00:12:52] FAWN: Hello? Yet I'm going. Smoothly. Right. I'm not racing, I'm not zigging back and forth from this lane to the other lane. 
[00:13:01] MATT: Right. You're not getting emotional 
[00:13:02] FAWN: and I'm not agitated. I'm just like, wow, that person must need to go to the bathroom or something. So they're in a hurry. Right? Or maybe they need to get to the hospital.
[00:13:10] FAWN: Please go ahead. I'm not gonna go faster than you. I don't feel comfortable. Mm-hmm. But we always end up at the same, at the same time, at the same place. So anyway, that's what I take from the first part and, 
[00:13:25] MATT: and yet for me, okay. Yes, absolutely. As far as possible without surrender, beyond good terms with all persons without surrender.
[00:13:36] MATT: That's Aikido, 
[00:13:38] FAWN: I was just gonna say, 
[00:13:38] MATT: you, you were gonna bring up That's so my keto, it's like, you know, I'm still walking my path and I'm gonna do what I can to stay on good terms, you know? But, I'm walking my path. I'm not surrendering my path. I'm not surrendering who I am. You can perceive my placidity as weakness, but you're misperceiving it.
[00:13:58] FAWN: And then speak your truth quietly and clearly and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant. They too have their story. It makes me think of politics. It makes me think of, but, and it makes me think of, friendship. Because the art of listening, the art of being heard, the art of hearing, all of that, we all need to be seen.
[00:14:24] FAWN: We need to be heard. And a lot of problems out there are because a group is not heard, they're disrespected. That's one of the things I take from that. 
[00:14:33] MATT: And yet I start untying it into, you know, my, my long seated belief, frequently stated on the show that everybody has a very, very interesting story to tell.
[00:14:43] MATT: Right? And you can tease that out of people if you try. 
[00:14:47] FAWN: You don't even need to tease it. Sometimes 
[00:14:49] MATT: you do, but you're right, most of the time you don't. 
[00:14:52] FAWN: If you just keep looking at someone or express your, truth, even if it's painful or embarrassing, guaranteed, the person will also feel safe around you because you don't have a wall, you don't have a false narrative, you don't have a false sense of look, you know what I'm saying?
[00:15:10] FAWN: Mm-hmm. You don't have this thing that obviously people can see through, like you're hiding things, so you are genuine. That allows for others to open up,
[00:15:20] FAWN: avoid loud and aggressive persons. They are vexation to the spirit. Can we think of certain leaders in politics Right. 
[00:15:31] MATT: It makes me wonder if this is where really the term vexed entered into the common vernacular
[00:15:37] MATT: because vexatious is not a common word, but yet vexed, they 
[00:15:43] FAWN: vexed me. So, and then going on, enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however, humble. It is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. A few episodes back, we talked about f Scott Fitzgerald, the quote for what it's worth, all in good time.
[00:16:01] FAWN: there's always time. It's never too late, right? And so feeling good about whatever you're doing, being at peace with that. And that's how you gain momentum. That's how you are at peace. Even the way you look like if you are not happy with the way you look, but getting to a point where you love the way you look, no matter what unconditionally loving what is, enables you to all of a sudden really fast without time shift anything that you're involved in.
[00:16:31] FAWN: Or shift any way that you are, transform it instantaneously It happens by having that unconditional love for what is acceptance, for what is. It's kind of like paying attention to the person that's not heard. As soon as they're heard, everything feels clear. There's no fight anymore. There still may be feelings that need to be cleared and they will be, but being present to what is there, seeing what's there, hearing what's there offers transformation.
[00:17:03] MATT: Indeed. I also, it's very, very interesting too because this is really the only spot where he kind of defines what a possession people get really tied up in the things that they own. And he's talking about enjoying first of all your possessions, but you're really, your only possessions are your achievements and the plans you have, and you should enjoy them both.
[00:17:26] MATT: I think one of the keys to longevity is to always have plans. If you're not making plans, then what are you doing? You're just kind of there. You're just kind of 
[00:17:37] FAWN: existing. And then exercise caution in your business affairs. For the world is full of trickery. Oh goodness. But let this not blind you to the virtue there is.
[00:17:49] FAWN: Many persons strive for high ideals and everywhere, life is full of heroism. That's true. There's a lot of trickery out there. There is. And so if you're always thinking, they're out to get, you don't, don't go there. So if you're thinking I can't make friends, or I have enough friends, or I've been hurt by so many people, Okay.
[00:18:11] FAWN: Yeah, it's true. You have been hurt and there are people out there that are tricksters, but really there's more wonderfulness out there in the world. There are people always doing so many brilliant, beautiful, loving things. Way more than the bad guys. Way more than the ignorant ones went way more than the tricksters.
[00:18:35] FAWN: So thank you for that. And then of course, of course, being yourself and what do we say about friendship, especially do not feign affection. Our whole point, our whole way of the art of friendship was we went back to Aristotle and got to a point where we could figure out, How can we find the true friend?
[00:18:58] FAWN: How do you know that you have a true, true friend?
[00:19:02] MATT: And he kind of lays it all out in like four words. Especially do not five words, especially do not feign affection. 
[00:19:08] FAWN: Do not feign affection because you. What are you saying? I love you because of the way I feel. Well, that, that doesn't last long. Your feelings constantly change. Do I love you because of the things that I get from you?
[00:19:26] FAWN: Well, that will change too. Or do I love you Just because I love you, I love everything about you. The things that piss me off and just everything, you're a beautiful movie to watch. You're an interesting movie. I love you for everything that you are all encompassing. 
[00:19:43] MATT: Right, right. And then he lends himself to the poetry.
[00:19:47] MATT: Mean, he really gets kind of, you know, he's painting the scene with the neither be cynical about love for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is perennial as the 
[00:19:59] FAWN: grass. Can you explain that to me? Because like, for example, gardening. 
[00:20:03] MATT: Oh dear. We don't wanna talk about the 
[00:20:05] FAWN: mosquitoes.
[00:20:06] FAWN: Well, well no. Um, guys, I have a black guy from a mosquito that bit the bottom part of my eye. 
[00:20:11] MATT: You've got like 10 bites on your face.
[00:20:13] FAWN: I have 10 bites on my face guys, and I went out with eucalyptus, whatever you put on to not have it happen. It looks like I was in a boxing match and I didn't do very well.
[00:20:24] FAWN: So anyway, that's um, off topic, but like perennial, what does perennial mean again? 
[00:20:30] MATT: It means it's one of these enduring things, or it could mean comes back every year the way roses will bloom once a year. So 
[00:20:39] FAWN: it's there, but it may bud or blossom things in season, but the actual structure is always there.
[00:20:48] MATT: Right? Right. But, and what he's saying is when everything looks arid or desert-like. Disenchantment, again, you're in a negative space. You need to pay attention to things. Pay attention to the beautiful things that maybe they come once a year or maybe they're always there, but pay attention and juxtaposing aridity, which to me is very kind of almost like red rock.
[00:21:13] MATT: Mm-hmm. Or sand with grass. Mm-hmm. That's where he gets his poetry. That's where he's attempting to paint that 
[00:21:19] FAWN: scene, I feel. And then the next one, I, I get the gist of it, but I don't know how to explain it, which means if you can't explain something, you really don't understand it. Hell, so maybe you understand this one.
[00:21:29] FAWN: Can you explain, take kindly the council of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth, right? What does that mean? Surrendering the things of youth. 
[00:21:40] MATT: Right. And what are the things of youth, 
[00:21:42] FAWN: right? Like for me, he's, lately, I'm sorry I'm interrupting, but for me lately, I'm like, aw, things were so much, um, more fun years ago.
[00:21:56] FAWN: Things were better years ago. Or like, I had such a better outlook years ago. Oh dear. Should I let that go? And just like, Stop thinking of the past. Well, and try to compare how things appear to me now from the past. Am I too stuck in the past maybe. And the youth and 
[00:22:16] MATT: he's, he's asking us to a, stay present to our, you know, to where we are now.
[00:22:22] FAWN: Take kindly the council of the 
[00:22:24] MATT: years. Right. And not, you can look back on these things, uh, fondly and the things that you have learned, the counsel, the things that you have learned over the years. 
[00:22:34] FAWN: Take kindly the counsel of the years. It could also be, but don't hold onto the bad things, like see them as gifts, right?
[00:22:44] FAWN: The bad things that happen, right. Don't keep harping on this person did this or this happened, or I failed at such and such. Yeah, right. Take kindly the counsel of the years. Take kindly what the years have taught you .Don't stay in the negative. Is that what, is that what it could be? That's a big 
[00:23:00] MATT: part of it.
[00:23:01] MATT: And then gracefully surrendering the things of youth is just life changes and we need to allow life to change, you know? We can talk about people who, you know, maybe, you know, it's a process of constant growth. That's how I live my life. And I like to believe I'm growing regardless, and I try and grow.
[00:23:26] MATT: I try to grow a little every day at least. I don't spend time, I do spend time thinking of the past, but I don't live there and I know I don't live there, right? So I don't try and live there. So I move forward with the now 
[00:23:41] FAWN: and then: nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
[00:23:47] FAWN: So stay strong because resilience, yeah, be resilient. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Oh my God, that's me. Constant dark, imaginings distressed pretty much all day every day. Oh my God. Pure anxiety. Just don't do it. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. That is true. When you are tired, have you noticed when you're tired and you haven't slept?
[00:24:11] FAWN: Everything looks terrible. Well, 
[00:24:13] MATT: and also when like I'm attempting to get something done at work and I'm really trying hard to turn the crank, and sometimes it just doesn't wanna turn. Mm-hmm. Because I'm pushing too hard and I'm getting myself too exhausted. 
[00:24:26] FAWN: You're tired and then loneliness. Yeah. When we're alone, our imaginings can take off.
[00:24:33] FAWN: We need each other. You are surrounded by friends. We need each other. And then going on. Beyond a wholesome discipline. Be gentle with yourself. Yes. There's no explanation needed there. Right. Totally clear. Please be gentle with yourself. He does 
[00:24:50] MATT: say beyond a wholesome discipline, so he's not saying just, you know, don't beyond challenge yourself.
[00:24:57] FAWN: Be gentle with yourself at the same time. Right. But not, don't, don't, 
[00:25:00] MATT: don't be crazy about 
[00:25:01] FAWN: it. Right. Okay. Um, and again, the poetry, here's, here's where I feel like Rumi comes in and I just, this, I love this part. You are a child of the universe.
[00:25:16] FAWN: No less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Thank you very much, humanity. Any explanation needed here? I can't imagine. Nope. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt, the universe is unfolding as it should.
[00:25:37] FAWN: this is another swim lesson that I, that comes up, so I'm like, I'm pontificating and. Words come through me as I'm doing the swim lessons for the kids. Mm-hmm. But this is another thing that I tell them that no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should, whether or not it's clear to you, no doubt, the universe is unfolding as it should.
[00:25:58] FAWN: The water is there to carry you. Go with the flow. It's there to support you. You can glide through it and everything will unfold as it should. Don't rush be happy and live your life and all of that unfolds perfectly for you. You don't have to do anything. Just swim and glide. Everything else will fall into place. You'll be taken to the right place at the right time.
[00:26:27] FAWN: There's no need to struggle. And then he of course, brings up the G word that frightens people. Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be. And whatever your laborers and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
[00:26:54] FAWN: Be cheerful, strive to be happy. I don't know if we talked about this, but someone broke down the meaning of life. I was listening to this person, the channels. And they channel something that's called Theo. And I think there are 12 archangels that are speaking through this woman and they call themselves Theo.
[00:27:17] FAWN: She goes on interviews and usually her husband will conduct the interviews cuz he is really good at asking certain questions. So the question was, what does life mean? What is the purpose of life? , the voice that speaks to her, which totally changes by the way.
[00:27:33] FAWN: It's, it's a, it's a trip anyway, but the answer was the point of the reason of the meaning of is create, is to create, life means create. And if you think about that, that can mean so many things. Yeah. It's creation. Creating other life. It's, um, basically making sure that your species, species, yes. Is that the word?
[00:28:00] FAWN: Lives, you know, like you're procreating, procreating, procreate when you make babies, whatever. Right. So that's create, that's to create something. Right, right. But it's also, you're creating breath, you're creating words, you're creating communication. You're creating. Vision the word create, let's get into that some on some other episode, but that is the meaning of life is to create.
[00:28:28] FAWN: We're here to create. We are creators. I mean, it's totally deep. It is 
[00:28:34] MATT: even almost more. I don't know.  There's such an immediacy to this even though it was written back in the twenties. Mm-hmm. 1920s, a hundred years ago, he started working on this, and yet it still 
[00:28:46] FAWN: feels fresh. Well, it is. It's, it feels like we're going through the same stuff.
[00:28:50] FAWN: Right. You know, as World War I and leading into World War ii. There was a pandemic before that, right. There was so much happening. So much like you said, on the verge of so many discoveries, so many, inventions. Mm-hmm. And at the same time, so much war and, hello, we're on the. Is it the word prep? Prep precipice on the precipice of major change like never before through ai, through just so many different technologies right now. Right. And at the same time we could, the balance could like shift in in instant of total peace or total devastation.
[00:29:34] FAWN: And that's why everybody's freaking out. And I think that's another reason why it's really good to hear this message, say Deta? Deta. Why can't I pronounce it you guys? Why? But anyway, so there you have it. Be gentle with yourself. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. Know who you are. Just play this back again.
[00:29:58] FAWN: Do you wanna read it? Should you read it again? And you read it this time? 
[00:30:04] MATT: Oh, so I get to stumble over it? I think the version I pulled is slightly different than yours, really Read it. I do. Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
[00:30:28] MATT: Speak your truth quietly and clearly and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons. They are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter. For always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
[00:30:53] MATT: Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career. However, humble it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs for the world is full of trickery, but let this not blind you to what virtue there is. Many persons strive for high ideals and everywhere life is full of heroism.
[00:31:20] MATT: Be yourself, especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly, the counsel of the years gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
[00:31:48] MATT: But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here, and whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt, the universe is unfolding as it should.
[00:32:16] MATT: Therefore be at peace with God whatever you conceive him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. 
[00:32:43] FAWN: We love you. Thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you in just a few days.
[00:32:48] MATT: Be well.