There is nothing more heartwarming and comforting than receiving a letter full of pure emotion and love. When students at St. Xavier High School were given the task of writing such a letter to someone they admire in 2006, five students wrote to Kurt Vonnegut, author of several bestsellers such as Slaughterhouse 5, Cat’s Cradle, and more. The author responded to the letter in the most thoughtful way possible with a heartfelt message that many still treasure more than a decade later, according to High Existence.
Vonnegut began the letter by addressing the five students and their teacher. “Dear Xavier High School, Ms. Lockwood and Messrs. Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Congiusta,” he began. The author thanked the students for their letters and explained why he was writing to them rather than meeting them. “You certainly know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his last years. I don’t make any more public appearances because now I see nothing but an iguana,” he wrote. The author of “Breakfast of Champions” then got down to business and gave the students some good, inspirational advice.
He urged her to take up a hobby and pursue it passionately. “Practice some art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpture, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how good or bad, not for the sake of money and fame, but for the experience of becoming, of finding out what is inside you, of growing your soul,” he wrote. With some of the sweet humor that comes with his writing style, he said, “Draw a funny or nice picture of Mrs. Lockwood and give it to her. Dance home after school and sing in the shower and so on. Put a face in your mashed potatoes. Imagine you are Count Dracula.”
But that was not all. Vonnegut had even planned a special and unusual activity for the children. He asked the teacher to even fail the children if possible if they did not do it. “Write a six-line poem about anything, but rhyming. No fair tennis without a net. Do it as well as you can. But don’t tell anyone what you are doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anyone, not even your girlfriend or your parents or anyone else or Mrs. Lockwood. Okay?” The activity seemed fine until the author mentioned that after they wrote their poem, they had to tear it up and throw it in the trash can.
Although it was a skeptical assignment, he also explained why it was of great importance to the students. He wrote, “Tear it into tiny little pieces and throw them into widely spaced trash cans. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned much more about your inner self, and your soul has been able to grow.” Vonnegut concluded the letter with a blessing for the students and his salutation. As absurd as it may seem, his advice is truly remarkable and is intended to shape students into thoughtful and humane individuals over time.
