Today I found my old poetry book from middle school. I had forgotten what a voracious writer I once was. I write a lot still, but it’s mostly e-mail, not poetry. I found that I had written in the notebook something I called “Poetic Words of Wisdom.” Here’s what 12-year-old me picked up:

• In life there are no problems, just solutions waiting to be found.
• Have fun, make peace, and be creative.
• Joy is never in things, it is in us.
• Lessons are nothing but lies that have been interpreted
• People who live in glass houses should never throw stones.
• The line between normalcy and insanity is a hypothetical one. When you try to draw it that’s when you go crazy.
• Wisdom is gained by losing your mind and remembering where you put it.