Tag and Threads

Lora Banks, a coach – wonderful blogger – and the mother of 4 children, tagged me. Many bloggers have been tagged and Phil Gerbyshak has been tagged over 3 times. You need to learn to run faster Phil! If you are tagged you are to write 5 things readers might not know about you. As Lora pointed out this is about creating connections and as this is the year of the Brotherhood of the Rope in this blog I will now share 5 threads:

1. I had an imaginary playmate who was a combination of half-bear and half-human. I called him Jampy. Jampy taught me about imagination and empathy and my mother always said there was a place for Jampy at the supper table if he wanted to come by. Jampy nourished me as a child.
2. While learning to fly I goofed up practicing an incipient spin and lost 4,000 feet very quickly and came within a second or two of crashing into the ground. As the plane was rapidly spinning to the ground I wondered why my life was not passing before my eyes and it was a swear word that moved me into correct action by pushing towards the ground rather than pulling away. I have a faint fondness for swear words and I learned the best way out of something is by moving fully into it.
3. I have a stone that I picked up from Long Beach in Pacific Rim National Park on the west coast of Vancouver Island. To be honest, I am not sure if I picked up the stone or if the stone picked me. Anyway, we have been hanging around together for 30 years. The stone is a good teacher, it has taught me more than any university course. The stone has been used as a healing rock, it has been handled by thousands of people in my workshops and I love how it heats up as it is passed around. It has been called a baby Grandfather and had a bath in 2 different sweat lodges. When I die I would love my children to journey to Pacific Rim National Park and throw it back into the Pacific Ocean for me.
4. I have a strong streak of gentle tenacity. I completed my first marathon at 51 years of age and I run really hard at the end of races because I like to finish strong and I want to pass rather than be passed. I don’t have great speed, perhaps little more than a waddle, but it feels fast to me and I love running hard near the end. I think part of this spirit is a legacy of being an Outward Bound graduate 30 years ago and living the motto: “to serve, to strive, and not to yield.”
5. I am the father of a 17-year old son. I also am the father of Katharine and Luke, 15-year old twins. When they were little, even after hearing their names, many people asked if they were identical. I DON’T THINK SO. I have learned that we are all unique – even when we are born 5 minutes apart and live in the same family. Yet many people fail to see our uniqueness.

Click here to read Zingers – if you want to learn more about me and my quirky side.

I am now supposed to tag some other bloggers. I feel like I am standing in the middle of a field watching everyone run around and wondering who I should go after. I’d tag Jampy but as far as I know he doesn’t have a blog.

So rather than a tag, I offer an invitation. If you are a blogger and have not been tagged consider yourself tagged when you finish reading this line. If you are not a blogger, what are 5 things that people don’t know about you?

Keep climbing, keep caring,

David