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Art & Culture

various essays on, well, art and culture

Bookbinding & Conservation

lessons learned from this profession

Humor

ok, I'm not the guy from SNL,
but I still have a sense of humor

'Jim Downey' Stories

mostly true stories from my
adolescence

Personal Essays

No matter where you go . . .
So I wander into this nuclear
        reactor . . .

Thoughts on This Day
The Power to Forget
Announcing:  Alwyn!
Martyr Complex
Yahtzee
The Call
The Reality of the Situation
Comforting Presence
Guilt & Redemption
Honesty
Expectations

Politics

I’m at -7.13/-7.33 on The Political Compass.  Where
are you?

Society

observations on the human condition

Travel

take a trip with me

Published in Legacy Online, April 2004


A Comforting Presence

It was a little crazy, I admit.

We needed to hold our Annual Shareholder's meeting sometime this month.  And while everyone was in concurrence about the need to close Legacy, it promised to be an emotional meeting.  It's never easy to face such a necessary decision and implement the steps required.  There are also the logistical requirements and need to prepare reports and financial information that mean extra work for me.

Combining that with hosting the Monks was a little bit nuts.

But I wanted to give our shareholders, a number of whom live out of town, a chance to see the Mandala in person, perhaps to stick around after our meeting Sunday morning and watch the Monks working to create this beautiful expression of prayer and devotion.  So, I scheduled the meeting for this past weekend.

And I'm glad that I did.

Not just because it accomplished the given purpose.  It also gave me the emotional resiliency of Monks to lean on after our meeting.  Their stability, their simple joy of life, helped to provide a cushion.  Oh, the meeting went fine, being more celebration of our joint effort than a wake.  But still, it was good to have the Monks around these past few days to remind me to appreciate the beauty in the temporary, and how doing good work is an end unto itself.  Soon, Legacy will be no more.  But like the Mandala which will be ritually destroyed tomorrow after four days of intense concentrated effort, it will have served its purpose.

Come by today, if you can, and see the Mandala.


contact me:
jim@afineline.org
all work © James T. Downey, 1993-2006
photos © Martha K. John, 1994-2006
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