1/9/2016 (Day 9) I'm Sorry I Never Made it to Kirtan

This morning, shortly after waking up, I received a message from an old friend that her ex-husband, had been killed in a car accident last night. She and I had gone to college together when they were married, and that's how I met Jeff, back in '91 or '92. I was never particularly close with him, but he always seemed to remain a part of various circles I traveled in the quarter of a century since, and we shared a sort of peripheral friendship, where every once in a while we would engage in a deeper conversation, but mostly it was just kept to ''hi, how ya doin?" kind of stuff. He was such a big presence in our community though, that I always sort of had a sense of him being present in my life somehow. 

What's interesting is that, if he were still alive, I probably wouldn't have ever really noticed or thought of this. Had we both just gone about our lives and grown old, we may have stayed peripherally connected for the rest of our lives, or; perhaps we might have eventually drifted out of one another's circumference of being, never to be thought of again. Today I found myself contemplating the idea of how many people are on the periphery of our lives that we sort of notice and connect with but don't ever get the chance or take the opportunity to know better. I wondered what we might be missing out on by not connecting more deeply with these people. 

Some time ago, Jeff invited me to attend a Kirtan event that he was hosting here in town. I almost went, but didn't. And then he invited me to another, and I thought about going, but never made it. There were a couple more invites and couple more missed opportunities. And, here we are today, where there are no more chances, nor will there ever will be another chance to experience Kirtan with Jeff's wonderful energy. AS a result, I find myself contemplating the idea of missed opportunities and how many times we forget take part in connecting more deeply with those around us. And so, in honor of Jeff, I am intending from now on to not procrastinate or let slide the invitations that come my way and to pay closer attention to the people on the periphery of my life because you just never know when or where or if that person might suddenly be gone in the blink of an eye and I may find myself sorry for having missed the chance to know them better. I will also use Jeff's shining example as a person who relentlessly followed his dreams and had a positive impact on his community to inspire myself to not ever give up on my own dreams. Thank you for the inspiration, my friend. 

Please, hug your loved ones extra tight, take care and be safe <3