The school I attended, a boarding school deep in the english countryside, used this for it's annual leaver's service, and it was delivered by the headmaster in our little chapel, always a very moving occasion, even for the older students who were leaving to go to university. For me Desidirata is especially poignant as I left early, aged 14, in the year that my mother died, with the knowledge that not only was I leaving my school, friends, teachers, but England, and my home, to go half way around the world to be with family I barely knew. It was a truly unknown threshold I was crossing, and these words gave me some firm ground and the courage I needed. The year was 1963. Thank you Carolyn for bringing them here in their entirety, with all their richness and wisdom.

Lindy