@codinghorror artical on action.
Jeff, thank you for laying it out so simply!
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For inspiration, here’s the Robert Frost poem featured in the Outsiders book and movie.
And here’s the Stevie Wonder song from the movie.
Stay Gold, @codinghorror
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When so much news brings me despair, articles like this bring me hope. Succinct and insightful. Thank you for sharing!
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Proud to know you, Jeff (insofar as I do, I mean).
Love that this is the first release of a rad responsive yoyo. 
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I hope @da5id has the Deepest State machine running around the clock, sick YoYo with some really great lore behind its initial colorway
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The first run of Deepest State is in partnership with Stay Gold, America.
Stay Gold (our very own @Codinghorror) is amazing and they are helping make the retail price of the first run more affordable for all of you. How cool is that? Also, check out the incredible things they are doing to help the country.
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A lot of people know it from S.E. Hinton’s Outsiders (1967), which was adapted into two movies, but most people specifically remember the “Stay Gold, Ponyboy” line from the 1983 movie adaptation:
The title of any piece of writing is by far the most difficult part. I only usually have the title by the time I have finished writing it. But this time was different:
I recently attended a theater performance of The Outsiders at my son’s public high school. All I really knew was the famous “stay gold” line from the 1983 movie adaptation. But as I sat there in the audience among my neighbors, watching the complete story acted out in front of me by these teenagers, I slowly realized what staying gold actually meant: sharing the American Dream.
In the printed program, the director wrote:
This play is a reminder that strength lies not just in overcoming hardships but in staying true to ourselves and lifting up those around us.
We hope you feel the raw emotions, sense the camaraderie, and connect with the enduring themes of resilience, empathy, and unity. Whether you’ve read this story recently, long ago, or not at all, I hope you are able to find inspiration in the strength and passion of youth. Thank you for being part of this journey with us.
I walked out of that theater in tears, losing my goddamn mind, because I finally had a perfect title for this essay that I was basically having a three month continuous nervous breakdown writing, and showing to everyone I knew so that I could get it exactly right, for all of us.
The analysis of the poem is fairly straightforward (unlike The Road Not Taken, which I reference in a subsequent blog post).
What does Frost mean by “stay gold”?
Don’t ever let anyone, or any system, take that youthful enthusiasm for life that we were all born with, away from you. Don’t let them do that to you.
.. and don’t let them do it to anyone else, either. Help us show them a better way, with love, together. Because I can’t do it alone. Nobody can. We need each other. We are social animals to the very core.
Yeah, it’s a lot harder. Believe me, I know. People are a giant pain in the ■■■, because I sure as hell am. Many people, even here on this forum, can personally attest to that.
I try to love as many people as I possibly can, until they finally make that impossible, because the alternatives are too seductive. It is so very easy to put on the safe, comfortable armor of hate. It’s so simple in an overwhelmingly complex and increasingly confusing world:
- Us, or them.
- Black, or white.
- One, or zero.
- You’re either on our team, or you are an enemy.
It feels good to hate, because you are fully armored, and no one can possibly hurt you any more, ever again. But know that you are slowly poisoning yourself, and the poison of hate will always, always eat you from within. It’s only a matter of time.
Whereas love – truly, openly loving – makes you so vulnerable. You have to be willing to open yourself to the possibility that others may hurt you, sometimes deeply, even with overt intentional cruelty. And that path is far more difficult, so much more risky. You will be hurt. I guarantee it. But that’s the point. It’s the only way we make it through this world, this life, that is a statistical impossibility.
To get trust, to get love, you must first give it freely, and unconditionally, and be willing to accept whatever you get in return, good or bad, and never stop doing it, no matter how many times you do get hurt.
Because I find that when I give love, I almost always get it back ten, a hundred, a thousandfold.. and that’s worth the cost, because I assure you that none of us will live very long, or happily, when we are protecting ourselves with hate from feeling anything at all.
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@codinghorror great blog post! i definitely shared it. it’s reassuring to know there’s still human decency and dignity out there.
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“Friends are warmer than gold when you’re old” - a quote from the late David Berman
I feel it fits alongside stay gold. If we choose to help enrich each others lives and help support one another, having friendship, love, compassion, empathy and comrade is much more valuable than anything. Especially when times get tough.
It’s truly an amazing thing you’re doing Jeff. It’s even cooler you being a part of this small community and being able to see this blossom here too. I remember reading your blog in the early 00s (I still have a bunch articles bookmarked from back then) and sporadically through out the years. Using stack overflow for years and even deploying a few discourse forums, then a few years ago (ok, more like 8) seeing your name pop up here on the forum with that iconic avatar. I nearly pooped myself. Lowkey was a huge surprise. I thought i was super cool because I had enjoyed what you’d put out into the world at that point and now you’re pushing to change the world. It’s awesome.
Huge kudos goes out to you and other folks that are in your position that are doing similar advocacy. I wish you all the best and hope this changes many lives!
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FYI, while you were gone @unklesteve dropped a Signature called the “Beater” with a “Stay Gold Ponyboy” colorway. Though I was all about “Boring Silver”
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Love the post. Been sharing it around like crazy.
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