It has been twenty-seven days since I last published on this website, yet those twenty-seven days have been perhaps the busiest I’ve been since beginning my streak of writing and publishing daily.
That’s not to say that I haven’t been writing during that time. The truth suggests otherwise: I’ve been reading, writing, and observing just as much, if not more, than before I ended my streak.
Since my last published post on this website, I have written over thirty personalized letters to the people at Walmart with whom I had the privilege of working the closest. This initiative came from receiving a single letter, with all of their messages and names signed, thanking me for my time working there. I felt the time to leave was right, given that I received an offer to work in a new setting.
Once I’d delivered the letters, I returned to that very same store to do last-minute Christmas shopping, and the responses to my letters were endearing, so much so that I felt compelled to write one final letter, an open letter to the company that allowed me to reclaim my footing. I published the open letter on my LinkedIn (also found here).
After leaving Walmart on the 17th of December, I had two and a half weeks before starting my new role. The first week, I relaxed with my family— something I couldn’t do much of while working at Walmart. Christmas was spent with them, and I spent the remaining time of my first week buying gifts for them and clothing for myself, as this new role would demand a new persona. After Christmas, I stayed in a historic, beautiful town in the Ozark Mountains called Eureka Springs.
I stayed there for my second and final week, hoping I could explore its landmarks and catch up on my readings. I brought over a dozen books that I planned to finish before starting my new role, but none of which I actually got to finish. At the very least, I managed to write more drafts that I plan to publish here, which could be expanded into articles or essays.
During my time in Eureka Springs, I met some of the most fascinating characters yet and learned a great deal about the town’s history, which genuinely put things into perspective for the type of work I want to do. My favorite part of the trip, surprisingly, was visiting their public library. The Eureka Springs Carnegie Library has an interesting history: It originated from a 1906 grant from Andrew Carnegie, and was designed in Classical Revival style by St. Louis architect George W. Hellmuth.
Because of my obsession with history, upon arrival, I asked about their archives and anything related to the library’s founding. Fortunately, they had plenty, and I was allowed to access them so long as I stayed within the library itself. In my research, I discovered more than I had imagined and was fascinated by it all; many of the archives consisted of letters exchanged between Eureka Springs and Carnegie’s corporation. The majority of the letters were actually lost, but of the remaining few, I’ve learned enough to understand what was happening. I especially paid attention to their writing style and how they spelled letters, something I didn’t know I would enjoy discovering. More importantly, I had found what I was looking for:
This experience alone reaffirmed my understanding that I am but a character in a long-running story called human history. I have my stage, and I have my role to play, of which there are many parts as I progress through my life. Andrew Carnegie played his part to the greatest of his ability, and for that, history has remembered him as one of the richest and most influential philanthropists of the modern era, embodying the idea that the wealthy have a duty to give their fortunes away.
His role ended, and now my role is beginning to take shape. Mine won’t be that of an influential philanthropist, and it might not even be what I think it is now. But my reading of history has given me a perspective shared by many historical figures who, at one point, felt what I feel now.
The prologue to my story ended when my time at Walmart did. I am now entering my new role as a Cultural Programming Coordinator at the Multicultural Center at the University of Arkansas. That is the role history has given me in the current moment, and I shall, like those who came before me, give the performance of a lifetime. It is perhaps the least I could do, given how much I was given by the people around me.
How fortunate I am, and how fortunate I can become.