A Dear Friend Dies

One night years ago, in my family's Mosman home, my father and his friend Terry were sitting on the couch - having a few beers, feeling mellow. They started to recollect old friends…

"What happened to Albert - do you know Rupert?"

"Dead" my father replied.

"Oh really," Terry nodded, "And Jackson?"

"Dead" my father deadpanned.

As we rose-faced siblings sat in the room listening to these two old gentlemen - they soon they got the joke. Without missing a beat, they started to systematically work through every actor they had known in their joint careers from times past…

"What about Peter Finch?" my father wondered…

"Dead," Terry confirmed. And so it went on. Name after name. Dead. Dead. Dead.

That evening left a great impression on me. I anticipated a time to come. Now, as I slowly approach that time of life, I find my Self also saying goodbye to a good many dear friends.

Just this week, two of them. Let me tell you about the one you may know…

Last Friday Alice Pryor - a dear friend, Alexscovery teacher, student of Marj and innovator extraordinaire - succumbed to cancer and passed from this world.

Alice had been a teacher all her life when she met Marj. Like me, she loved Marj instantly and stuck by her like a starfish to a rock. Alice accompanied Marj on her second trip to Australia in 1987 - Alice's laugh, her natural way, and her independence of Marj and her originality as a teacher all struck me that summer.

Alice studied teaching methodologies. She dived deeply into using video in her lessons. We are talking 1980s now, not this smartphone era. That was a big deal - using the VCR and tube TV to assist people in their process.

Alice invited me to Austin, TX - where she lived with her faithful husband George - and encouraged me to do my thing. Which I did, resulting in some wild work that got even Alice to whoop and wonder at the audacity of it. Another email.

Alice created freedom I had seldom experienced. We spent hours talking about the work, and I loved her wisdom, humour and bright smile. They are not gone.

Lama Tsongkhapa - a Buddhist sage from 7 centuries ago - opined:

"Those who fear death, when death comes, will not be afraid. But those who have no fear of death, when death comes, will be very afraid."

It means - understand that death is coming, no-one escapes it. Remember it, and live YOUR life. Take risks. Do new things. Live your dream.

Thank you, Alice.

p.s. would Alice mind if I asked you to look at the opportunity waiting for you to make a difference to this world? I don't think so. I can hear her laughing…

https://bodychance.mykajabi.com/p/Getting_Work_in_Businesses

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