We Are Gathered Here Today...

As this is a national time of sharing gratitude I feel moved to give a very heartfelt thanks for the love of my family and friends. I usually might have climbed aboard my soapbox to point out some particular hypocritical or idiosyncratic elements of the holiday that have evolved from its origin to now, but I think we all sort of get it by now, right?

Last month on the auspicious day of 10-10-10, I was most honored to serve as the officiant for my younger sister's wedding. I was touched that they trusted my judgment to help create a ceremony that fit their character, held surprises, and made the already special day even more memorable for them. Their day ended up being practically perfect in every way. I have never seen my sister happier, glowing in fact. So many members of the family came together to make it work well and I was glad to have contributed my part.

The process of helping plan, organize, and give fresh perspectives for weddings is a type of creative consulting. I served as Man of Honor for one of my dearest friends several years ago, followed by being the Wedding Planner/ Stage Manager for two other dear friends, and offering up advice for rituals and unique twists for several other weddings. In a way, a wedding is really a type of theatrical event, one that focuses on the union of two co-stars, supported by a fancy dressed supporting cast, conducted/directed by an officiant, and with an audience of family and friends cheering them on. This metaphor was utilized for my sister's wedding, which took place on the outdoor Festival Stage in City Park, Iowa City -- but we had all the family members sit onstage instead of the audience seats, so they would be closer, more connected, and playing supporting roles.

Even though men of the cloth have a historical precedence of being gay, I wouldn't have served as officiant if Iowa had a ban on gay marriage. Fortunately though, in April of 2009 the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage, so my heart felt clear to participate. However, Iowa is still in a hotbed of controversy over the ruling and three Supreme Court Justices were ousted during the recent elections.

I feel very fortunate that my family accepts me for who I am, and that they were comfortable and confident to chose me for the role. It is truly a shame that religious dogma and ignorance can come between families, and that this whole controversy still rages on. The timing of my trip home was not lost on me, as the nation woke up to the reality of gay suicides, I was reminded of my own challenging teenage experiences. While I can agree it gets better, I feel the more appropriate sentiment is that I got stronger, bolstered by the support of gay mentors and friends. I am so grateful for the love and support of my family, and pray that in time more and more families will come to love, understand and accept all of God's children.

keeping it simple

walk with me

talk with me

find me in a moment

then watch me fade away

INTERNAL VS. EXTERNAL APPS.

So before hitting the road for my October cross country trip,  I felt I ought to utilize my phone to its greatest extent by loading up a bunch of applications deemed good to have. However, I found myself less than impressed with the actual use of them. I grew impatient with waiting for the network to keep up to speed and by the time I received the information I needed, it was too late or I was unimpressed with the results. Besides, spending so much time looking down at devices and trying to figure out external applications, meant less time looking around and paying attention to the view outside. Maybe I’m too impatient. Maybe I’m just not that tech savvy. Maybe I’m old-fashioned. Or perhaps I find it much more interesting, adventurous, and reliable to use some of my internal apps: intuition, imagination, inspiration, and ingenuity.

Tech companies can herald the arrival of the next great thing and sell us on all getting all those external application we ought to have to make our life easier, but I still find the greatest joys in life either come free from Mother Nature or can be found within. We can easily hone and be happy with the internal apps we already have access to.

But no, I’m not against the use of new technology– it's how we use it that defines our culture and times. Some contemporary art utilizes the latest advances in technology to some really remarkable results, but we have to find a healthy balance that works for each of us. For me, I like being open to utilizing my internal apps, even if it means I’ll miss a few shortcuts or conveniences the external ones provide. And while I’ll use an external device like a camera to snap some pictures that I can share with others, there is simply nothing better than the internal pictures of my mind’s eye. The images I absorbed in while on the road will embed themselves into my psyche in some mysterious manner and just how they’ll manifest in the future remains to be seen, but one to look forward to.

So use what devices you will, but don't stop downloading some downtime with your internal apps!

SYMBOLS FOR THE REBEGIN 1: CHASING TAIL

Your ReBegin explores various elements within the cycles of creation and destruction and how they relate to our lives. So I thought it would be fun to connect the blog logo into that concept and every so often have the logo through its own series of rebegins*. Right now it exists in a draft stage, eventually it will reach a more polished look, and in time it will have guest interpretations and variations. I’m looking forward to imagining where it may go, and if you have an idea, write me about it!

The logo is inspired by several concepts: the modern day recycling symbol; the familiar symbol for infinity, but with an extra twist; a touch of the good old ancient Yin-Yang; and the, perhaps lesser known, but deeply important, Ouroboros, which is often depicted as a serpent eating its tail.

While a rather odd image to take in literally, an examination of the figurative aspect proves quite fascinating. It embodies the idea that life and death is in a constant cycle, constantly feeding off of and re-creating itself (hence ReBegin). In some cases it is considered the soul of the world and/or the eternal unity of all things in the material universe of which we are bound within. It reveals that one form, the outer reality, eventually is destroyed, but can become another; the inner or unseen realm. Such a cycle has both good and bad connotations, for creation is not always good and all destruction is not necessarily bad. It is a counterbalancing of opposites. It is a paradox worth wrapping your head around (see if you can reach your tail while at it).

The symbol traces as far back as ancient Egypt (1600 B.C.) where it was depicted as either a male and female snake biting each other or black and white snake representing night and day, heaven and Earth. Since then, it has, like many great ideas, gone through various cross-pollinations and transformations (yup more rebegins) as it passed through different cultures. The Greeks adopted the title Ouroboros , which means “tail-devourer.” China and the Hindus have a dragon. In Norse mythology it was called Jormungandr and encircled the world. Even Aztecs and other “New-World” cultures host such an image. In alchemy it is associated with powerful magic, the Wheel of Time, the duality of nature, and the art of developing one’s consciousness through the cycles of death and rebirth.

Ouroborus shows us that creation and destruction are inextricably linked. We tend to think that creation as merely good, destruction merely bad, but in reality they are different facets of the same process. Acts of creation impart destruction, and destruction gives way for creation. The key of the symbol, is that in nature, they are balanced, and one feeds the other.

Are we, as humans, conscious enough in our acts of creation so that the destruction we leave behind as a result is balanced and imparts more life? Or are we merely blindly consuming away without feeding the cycle? For there to be a future, there must be rebegins that honor this ancient principle, that of the soul of our world.

How can you explore and interpret Ouroboros in your personal life?

Bon appetite!

*The lower case rebegin is both a verb and a noun to describe transformations and the capitalized ReBegin is a noun to describe this site or a specific unit of transformation – make sense?