Foot Notes

Greetings! Runners often cannot see the finish line until late in the race. Many times when I go for a run I have no idea what will be fascinating and cause me to linger. Steps. One foot in front of the other. Keep moving. That’s what I do when running. In life I have a similar method. I call this process the mode of moderation. I plug away every day. As noted previously, like so many, I had no idea the path life would lead me to traverse. Though I still can’t see the finish line, I have always believed. Quite honestly, I’m still not clear on the overall objective. Yet, I remain happily on the road. 

Shannan and I were in Washington DC earlier this month.  We had a mixture of professional, academic and personal agendas for visiting the National Galleries, National Archives and National Cathedral. Across the weekend we took extra measures to see as many friends as possible. When describing recent curatorial work with some friends of ours from Atlanta who relocated to the D.C. area, Rosa asked, how did you get here?

We all understood her question. Our conversation created cognitive dissonance and engendered subconscious confusion. Twenty-five years ago when Rosa met me I had little to say, had traveled only in the Deep South, was a mess in appearance and many other areas of my life. I replied by saying, “I follow footnotes.” That was the driving force as why we were in D.C. In February I attended a lecture and a a student mention the Darth Vader Grotesque in my Humanities Class. I chased those footnotes to the Nation’s Capital. Day in and out this is the way I have lived, following foot notes. The conversation was a delight and a good time for us to reflect on our long term friendship. 

Since that dinner discussion I have continued to reflect on our time. Bibliographies have shaped and reshaped my direction in education, philosophy and spiritual understanding. Akhenaten, tube worms, and the Kathina ceremony rank high among many footnotes I followed to utter changes in my world view. I won’t say more, as it was a mere mention that made the difference for me.

Keep moving. We’ll get there. Run.

Tom