The Effect of Time

In This Bloutcher:

• The Effect of Time
• Announcements

The Effect of Time

I recently received an urgent call to arms from a fellow graduate of the Malverne High School class of 1960. The school board had passed a proposal to rename our high school after a well regarded teacher. You could see the computer screens light up across the Class of '60 Diaspora. From Florida to Indonesia and beyond the cry went out: Do they understand all the memories, associations, friendships, traditions, connections that go by the name of Malverne High School? And what in the world are they going to do with the school mascot: the Malverne Mule. Will they try to come up with a worthy alliterated equivalent? Doubt it!!

And then, in my passionate reaction, I began to wonder about the difference between memory and nostalgia. It struck me that memory is what we recall. The spotty facts of our past. But nostalgia is what we create from this raw material. Nostalgia is the emotional imprint that stamps its full, persistent character on our personal history. It's what cries out to us and calls us back. Memory is the stem and nostalgia the flower.

What are we to with this flower as we get older? Its fragrance becomes increasingly seductive, its call more and more melodic. It would be so easy to let ourselves be absorbed by its power and simply surrender to the richness of our past. After all, the future takes work and effort and energy. And do these capacities not diminish as we get older? So why not give ourselves fully to the nostalgic impulse. Do we succumb? Do we resist? Or do we allow for a few precious moments?

I think of Tennyson's poem Ulysses:

Yet all experience is an arch where through
Gleams that untraveled world, whose margin fades
For ever and forever when I move.

When I look at myself I wonder how much Malverne I still see in me. I acknowledge a great deal remains. And then I catch myself. Allow, allow, I whisper to myself. Allow those precious moments. And then turn, as Ulysses did, To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield. I shift my gaze. New frontiers still call. But I do have a warning. Don't mess with the Malverne Mules!!

(To read Tennyson's full poem Ulysses, click here.)

Below is a photo of me a couple of years removed from high school. And then there is a photo snapped a couple of weeks ago. And then there are a couple of self portraits.












Announcements:

• I will be doing a program for the New York City chapter of the International Coaches Federation on Wednesday, June 15th entitled "What the Great Masters of Art Can Teach Us About a New Coaching Paradigm." To register and receive more info, click here.

• Also, it's not too early to join me for a 5 day program at Esalen, November 13 to 18. I will be holding a Life Change Studio in the breathtaking setting of The Big Sur and will be joined by my co-facilitator Nancy Fernandez Mills. For more information click here. Also, my wife Karen will be holding one of her remarkable 5 day poetry workshops at Esalen during those same dates, entitled Calling Calliope. Click here for more info.

• I also want to remind everyone that I am working on an online training program for coaches with Kathy Jordan and Donna Krone. The program is designed to help coaches integrate the tools, techniques and concepts developed in Becoming a Life Change Artist into their practice. It will be highly interactive and will include an opportunity to join our dynamic online community. We have begun to build a list of coaches who have indicated an interest in learning more about the program. If you would like to be added to this list please let me know. And if you know coaches who you think should know about this program please let me know. We will then ask them for permission to be on our update list. We are planning to launch the program in the Fall.

• An update about my plans this summer. I have two daughter, Hinda and Becky, and they are both getting married this summer. Five days apart from each other. Yes, you heard it right. Five days apart. To two great guys. And, then, five days after that Karen and I are heading to France for 5 weeks. Of course, this was not all planned exactly this way. We had made plans to go to France first. Then Becky decided to get married. And, well, Hinda thought it would be a good idea to jump in since the family would be gathered together anyway. So planning goes just so far. The rest is about being grateful.