Goodbye Josef
or
Thank you for the joy
I have few heroes, it is the way it has always been.
My heroes are all humans, flawed, vulnerable humans.
I generally like humans which is unusual, most people don't.
Sometimes I meet humans who make a deep impression upon me, you may have experienced that as well.
I always imagine then that we truly are eternal and the way we connect is part of some larger pattern.
When I meet those people they have a true impact on how I see the world, they affect my overall view.
I remember the first time this happened here on SI, finding myself fitting so well into someone's words.
When I encountered this simple soldier I was unprepared for the amount of joy I found in reading his posts.
Nothing I could tell you would make you see what I saw but perhaps you knew Michal as well.
I loved his street photographs, already mentioned, I understood he was an influential photographer.
He really cared about the things that he cared about, those who knew him well knew this about him.
I could make some statements about those accomplishments but for me, I first met Josef.
That a man could take an idea and make it real in such a fashion as Michal did is an act of genesis.
This land is the one that was built out of the fairy tales that you read, the movies that you saw.
This place encompasses your background, your bias, your religion, your first girlfriend, all that you are.
Out of all these things you get to create a new thing, it is you, but not you.
When we create one of these SItizens they have a structure and a life of their own.
The best thing that can happen to any of us is that someone can offer us illumination.
Even when we are standing in the brightest light there are always shadows, what contrasts with joy?
Josef took a place in my own heart when we first met, he has lived there ever since.
I will miss Josef, I miss so many SItizens already and I have the comfort of knowing I am not alone.
I am not sure that any place in the "new land" has the same "new gravity" as this place right here.
We will all rest here. But know that when I rest here it is with joy.
The heroes of the new land will never be the bright spears of morning.
Here the heroes will always be veterans who seek to see past the old, to reach out to tomorrow.
And the path to tomorrow runs right through today but it is not easy to find.
Michal was someone who blazed a way through the unformed places, making the new real as he passed.
I am not going to shed tears. (that is a lie, you know I really did my friend)
I know I will never meet many of the people who are my constant digital companions.
Your viewpoints affect mine in a very real way and I understand that this is the way it must be.
When I look at the tapestry of ideas that make my digital clothing, I see so many threads from others.
Josef was the embodiment of joy, his contribution to our foundation was very real, he is built in here.
Farewell Michal, every time I drink I beer I will toast your memory, joyfully. |
