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Conversations For Transformation
Essays By Laurence Platt
Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard
And More
Laurence Platt 65th Birthday
June 8, 2015
Dear
Family
and
Friends,
Thank You for
celebrating,
in one form or another, this my 65th birthday with me today.
Things have been going well for me for quite a while now. In the
process I've become acutely aware of how precious time is. I had
coffee with an old
friend
of mine the other day. We were wondering when we had coffee last.
It could have been a week ago - or even a month ago (at least,
that's the way it felt). Then we figured out it was ten years
ago. It shocked me to confront how the pace of time has
picked up. So now 65 years have flashed by. I figure I'm a bit
less than two thirds of the way through my time here with you. It
makes me appreciate every moment with you more, knowing time's
pace is only going to accelerate from now on.
I'm staying fit and healthy not because going to the gym /
swimming pool
is my favorite undertaking. It's because I
intend
to stay in as great a shape as I can to support my
commitment
to
Alexandra,
Christian,
Joshua,
and y'all. Now well into my third bachelorhood, things have
settled into more than I could ever have
imagined
ten years ago. My main expression, as you know, is
writing
and sharing
Werner
with
the world.
But if you told me ten years ago there would soon be
one thousand essays and
a million views,
I wouldn't have believed you. Well ... there are now over
a thousand essays,
and I anticipate
the million view
mark will be passed sometime in November / December of this year.
After that, I'll recalibrate.
I think about living on a beach in
Hawai'i,
writing,
and letting
surfing
keep me fit. But I haven't done anything about it - and the truth
is I may or may not ever do anything about it other than think
about it. It makes me
happy
to live near
my children
(or at least on the same continent), and besides which, I
generate the quality of my life wherever I am - ultimately
Hawai'i
can't do that (but Oh! how we dream it can, don't we? ...).
In my younger years, I knew I would live forever. Back then, I
envisioned my tombstone saying "This wasn't supposed to
happen
...". Now I envision it saying "All
used up,
nothing
left,
gave it all away,
left the
beach
in a better state than I found it.".
People
are the
champions
of my life, and I have the good fortune to be
surrounded by and to get to play with and to be in
conversation
with and to be
loved
by and to
love
giants - and this includes each of you. I am so blown away by
who you are
- I mean by
who you really
are
that it completely sustains me and nourishes me. I want for
nothing
but you. You are enough for me - and for being the space in the
universe in which I can
show up,
I can't thank you enough for your generosity.
Please don't send gifts. I've got everything I need. Instead in
lieu of gifts, I invite you to make a
contribution
to the
Durrell Wildlife
Conservation Trust
who do astonishing,
brilliant,
mind-boggling
work
breeding species back from the very brink of extinction then
returning them to their natural habitat in viable numbers.
They're at
http://www.durrell.org
I don't want to wrap this up with a nice bow and pretty wrapping
paper. I want it to remain a bit rough and full of
gaping holes
which you can fill with your own experience and
Self-expression.
What I want to leave you with is my appreciation ... and this
(inspired by
Werner):
you know I love you -
and I know you love me.
Thank You.
With my
Love,
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