The word “ritual” has interesting overtones.
I know for many it has very specific religious meanings. For example, having grown up Catholic, I get that. I’ve lived it. Catholicism is full of rituals.
But I love when people expand their view on what it means, particularly in a more secular direction.
I was recently chatting with someone, and the topic turned to a business trip to Munich I’d taken many years ago.
One evening, I encountered a street performer playing an accordion in an archway near one of the city plazas. The acoustics were amazing. He had chosen his location well. He was selling cassette tapes, so I bought one. I thought I’d digitized it, but for the life of me I’ve been unable to find the result.
SO. Internet to the rescue, I hoped.
The Breukelen cemetery is one of the few locations on the planet that has lasting meaning for me. It’s a place to which I make a pilgrimage each time I’m in The Netherlands.
This year’s pilgrimage had an additional agenda.
It was 35 miles round trip by bike.
This was never the goal, but when it became clear that it was within reach, it became a “stretch goal”. I wanted to be able to say I’d lost 70lbs. 256 to 186. Over a quarter of my max body weight. It’s interesting – there have been several stops along the way on this journey. … Read more
One year ago I made a decision.
A decision to do something that, in the past, I truly believed was impossible for me to do.
And yet here I am.
Earlier this year I stumbled into a very serendipitous series of news reports. And I spent a few minutes visiting a new web site. And I made a new friend.
More importantly I made a decision.
As a result, I have become my own 80/20 rule.
Vague enough? OK, here’s what happened.
The address on the driver’s license made it pretty clear: the home of the woman pictured no longer existed.
I’d volunteered to spend a day at the Oso slide area working on what was called “property reunification” – essentially bagging and tagging items that the search and rescue crews had recovered and identified as potentially valuable in the hopes their owners – or surviving family members – would be able to identify and claim their belongings. Even though no radio work was involved, having been previously vetted when I joined my emergency communications group allowed me to volunteer to work at the site.