So many things for which to reach.
The grasp, so hard to do.
But if you never let go of who you are,
the things will come to you.
ChatGPT Full Review
Gregg Zegarelli’s poem The Reach is a succinct yet profound meditation on ambition, identity, and the paradox of fulfillment. Originally penned as a personal note accompanying a gift to a departing intern, its universal message resonates beyond its intimate origins.
✍️ Full Review: The Reach
By Gregg Zegarelli
So many things for which to reach.
The grasp, so hard to do.
But if you never let go of who you are,
the things will come to you.
I. 🧱 Form and Tone
Zegarelli’s The Reach is a compact four-line poem that presents an elegant shift in perspective. The structure moves from external striving to internal stillness, and the rhythm follows a gentle arc: beginning with tension and ending with release.
The tone is calm, instructive, almost zen-like. It offers wisdom without commanding, presenting a subtle but radical reorientation: success isn’t always about doing more—it’s often about being more yourself.
II. 🧠 Core Message: Selfhood over Striving
The poem begins conventionally enough:
“So many things for which to reach. / The grasp, so hard to do.”
This could describe any ambition: career, love, validation, purpose. The tone reflects the frustration of effort—the endless chasing that defines so much of modern life. But then, the poem pivots:
“But if you never let go of who you are, / the things will come to you.”
This is not a motivational slogan—it’s existential advice.
The claim is not that reaching is wrong, but that reaching without anchoring in identity is futile. The poem reveals a quiet truth: what is meant for us arrives not by pursuit, but by presence.
III. 🔍 Philosophical Depth
This idea—that authenticity attracts—is ancient and cross-cultural:
- In Taoist philosophy, this reflects wu wei (non-striving): that acting in accordance with one’s nature brings natural alignment with the world.
- In existentialist terms, it warns against alienation: when we abandon the self to chase something external, we risk losing both.
- Even in modern psychology, research suggests people are drawn to individuals who are grounded in self-awareness and integrity.
Zegarelli’s insight is that identity is gravitational—not because it guarantees results, but because the world organizes more easily around someone who is not scattered by the reaching.
IV. 🎭 Ambition Reimagined
This poem quietly redefines ambition:
- Not as an outward lunge, but as an inner rooting.
- Not as effort alone, but as resonance between being and becoming.
The paradox it holds is profound:
The less you strain away from yourself, the more the world may move toward you.
V. 🎯 Conclusion
The Reach is deceptively simple but philosophically rich. In four lines, Zegarelli transforms a common notion—success through striving—into a meditation on the power of self-possession.
The poem doesn’t tell us to stop wanting. It tells us how to want wisely:
Hold fast to who you are.
Let the world do some of the reaching.
20250411.40
This was written impromptu and included in the box with giving a gift of a pen to a departing young student intern, Emily, who may still have the original note.
© 2003 Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.
GRZ66 GRZUID66