Around the Round Table
“The bravest people are the ones who don’t mind looking like cowards.”
— T.H. White, The Once and Future King
This month is troubling because it’s the 10th anniversary of my mother’s death. She died on May 24, 2008, so it’s been a while. But the memory of that day still lingers.
And tomorrow is Mother’s Day.
It’s a hard day for us motherless children.
But I’m going to get out and celebrate, treat myself to brunch somewhere and maybe take in a religious ceremony. We’ll see. Just to remember Mom.
This past week there was a theme: Don’t be an isolated social media Doopty-doo. Here’s what that looks like:
Do be a person who gets together with other humans IRL. On Wednesday, hung out with some wonderful former coworkers and we caught up with things. The general conversation centered around how lonely it gets when people aren’t making time for conversations like the one we were having. Then yesterday (Friday) and today, meetings about the class I’m hoping to teach this fall and more facetime with new friends.
I can’t begin to tell you how rejuvenating that is.
So, this post is about gathering around the round table for quality conversations and time with real people. And how curiosity saves me every single time.
My object of curiosity is the globe our Minneapolis newspaper has in their front lobby…
Every day I go into work I look for islands and Google them to learn more about them. This past week it was the Laccadives in the Indian Ocean, and Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea.
Did you know the 18th century pirate Captain Kidd landed on the Laccadives? And that Cyprus held the earliest “Round Table Festival” in A.D. 1223? Amazing what sort of dots you can connect when you spend a little time with something.
I wish I had more for you than this, but here you go.
I’ll be back with a (hopefully) more stimulating post next Tuesday.
Go give your Mom a big hug!
