MeanderingQuest.com

Bill Kennedy

My name is Bill Kennedy, and I’m delighted with your interest in my blog!

This blog was inspired by my admiration for the main character in  “The Dark Crystal”, a movie by Jim Henson. The character’s name is ‘Jen‘

In the Movie, Jen, and his companion Kira must navigate a meandering quest of epic proportions in search of  true meaning and enduring quality of life.

Healing the Dark Crystal is the key to the fulfillment of that discovery.

This is one of my favorite movies and I can see rich metaphors in the story that can be added to the ‘field notes’ of our meandering quest.

Like  Jen in the movie, I’m deeply in the midst of  ‘re-inventing myself’.

So, in addition to everything else, I thought it might be fun and useful to use this blog to discuss all kinds of ‘re-inventing’ things that people can do to make their lives more interesting and fulfilling.

So I invite you to join me in exploring the many creative and practical ways to facilitate quality of personal and career life.

To see my blog’s Intro Video, click here.

While Christine and I were meandering on a country drive through Greenland Ranch, Colorado, we happened to come up on this sign…

She looked at me, and I looked at her, and we both laughed with amusement and perplexity.

For heaven’s sake, what was the sign’s author thinking when they created the sign?

Ummm. Let’s think about this for awhile…

Scenario #1:

Maybe there is a group of elitist cows who have the freedom to go anywhere they please. Those are the lucky ones.

However, there is another group of cows who are not so lucky. They belong to the middle class and therefore have been relegated to living in low-status, gated communities with fancy names like, “Barbed-Wire Estates”!

These cows must stay in their places and they must stay inside their cultural boundaries!

So, it’s up to the elite, ‘freedom cows’ to be informed to close that gate. After all, it would just be so improper to allow those ‘inner-fence’ cows to venture out and take their meandering quests to ‘greener pastures’ outside the fence.

Scenario #2:

With that stern message, the sign surely indicates that it’s important for the cows to be aware of those pesky humans and their tendency to stray. These two-legged animals simply must stay inside the fence, for their own good, hence the warning to close the gate!

Scenario #3:

Is it possible that the sign could be addressed to people who approach the gate in their cars and pickups?

Naw! couldn’t be.

If that were the intended message, then the sign might say something like this:

PEOPLE.
Cows are roaming around,
so please close the gate.

All kidding aside though…

We love getting away from the noise and intensity of city life in Denver by taking a mini-retreat to Greenland Ranch. It is the largest undeveloped tract of land between Denver and Colorado Springs and virtually unchanged since the settlers first came here.

Currently, the ranch is involved in the I-25 Conservation Corridor Project with the idea of preserving the scenic views of Pikes Peak along with limiting development.

And…
It also is the only ranch in the world that has resident cows who can read!

Shannon

I happen to be venturing around on a very interesting blog created by Shannon Buckley.

In the section where she is talking about her “empowering thought for the day” she quotes Robert Frost:

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.”

Shannon mentions on her post that she forgot the title, but I think it was called ‘A Road Less Traveled’, but I’m not totally sure either.

Anyway…when I read this passage, it makes me think of the uncertain, yet profound, ‘purpose-fullness’ of ANY path we take.

Many times we don’t understand the significance of the path, sometimes we look back and even resent it. At other times, we may even be sorry we couldn’t experience the alternative paths as Robert Frost laments in his poem. And… sometimes we think back on our travels with joy. We smile, laugh, and feel good about it.

But I believe there is more to the journey than merely a mode of  “time-transportation” from one experience in life to another.

Indeed, every step we take, every unexpected curve we encounter, every hill, stream, ditch we negotiate has a mysterious, often unintended ripple effect on the life experiences of others.

I’ve heard it said that there are no mistakes, no wrong turns, and no reasons for regrets in life. We are gently encouraged to make the decisions we do because of a higher benefit that might be revealed later in life, or maybe not at all.  Maybe the benefit wasn’t for us, who knows?

It is this philosophy that drives my passion to collect stories that reveal new ways of perceiving life’s realities while pursuing a path on the Meandering Quest.

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Speaking about revealing new ways of perceiving life’s realities, I was struck by an interesting quote in a novel by J.D. Robb (a.k.a. Nora Roberts). The name of the novel is, Conspiracy In Death and the quote comes from Lieutenant Eve Dallas’s (the heroine) husband ‘Roarke’.  He was trying to explain his new perspective on the pain and despair of his early life to Eve. He said:

“Some of the terrible parts of my early life were still inside me and always will be, but there’s more to it than that…

I’d made myself different.

What mattered most about what had come before, was that it had led me to where I am now, and that is with you.”

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Another perspective on the value of the unconventional-ness of the meandering quest was brilliantly articulated by a character in the movie, Movie Mona Lisa Smile.

The character’s name was Betty Warren and throughout the movie she was the primary antagonist of her college instructor, Katherine Watson.

Apparently, Katherine’s courageous efforts at Wellesley created a profound epiphany for Betty which had a meandering affect on her view of life after college.

In the final poignant scene of the movie, this is what Betty wrote in college newspaper:

“I came to Wellesley because I wanted to make a difference. But to change for others is to lie to yourself. My teacher, Katherine Watson, lived by her own definition and would not compromise that, not even for Wellesley.

I dedicate this, my last editorial, to an extraordinary woman, who lived by example and compelled us all to see the world through new eyes.

I’ve heard her called a quitter for leaving and, an aimless wanderer.

But not all who wander are aimless, especially those who seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, and beyond  image.”

Wow, this is the part in the movie, where it was hard to keep my eyes dry. I finally gave in and felt the total, profound impact of Betty’s message.

Life is NOT about a steady linear progression of perfect, well-thought-out decisions.

Instead it’s about an unpredictable flow of people, events, and circumstances, that transform, transcend, and ‘meander’ the traveler on their way to ultimate fulfillment.

And, with a salute to Buzz Lightyear, I’ll say the Quest continues…

To infinity and beyond!

The Aspire-to-Inspire Photographer

A while ago, I happened to be reading a very inspiring blog.  I was particularly drawn to the gallery of pictures that the person pictured on the right took in anticipation of selecting one for submission to her photography instructor.  She asked for comments, and the writer in me couldn’t resist.

I wrote a rather long comment and when I hit the submit button…I’m not sure whether or not it got saved in her system.

So, I decided to repeat it here, and this is what I said:

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Well, I’m obviously way too late to have an effect on your decision on which picture to submit to your instructor, but your pictures appeal to me and I wanted to say something about them anyway. I especially like, #2:

‘Centerpiece with Bride & Groom’s Champagne Glasses’

Actually, I could say a lot about each of your pictures because it’s something I learned to do in my volunteer work with the blind.

My blind friend “Buna” ( http://www.dynamicbuna.com ) once told me this:

“You know, Bill, it’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but for me, I’d say FORGET the picture, and just give me the 1000 words!”

As I reflected on Buna’s comment, it occurred to me that she might just have some real good advice for photographers.  Here, we have a sightless person providing some very useful insight for those who choose to express themselves in an artistic, visual medium.

I believe that a picture is first and foremost, a story.  And it’s very important for the photographer to understand this. For sure, she needs to keep that in mind whenever she captures the image, whether it’s with a ‘Sony Cyber-shot’ or a $2200 digital SLR.

Having said that, I’m rather impressed with the event-oriented pictures you took for this assignment.  It seems that you have an intuitive knack for capturing the story. And, it happens the instant you take the picture.

Picture #2

Here’s the story that I get from your Picture #2:

As I gaze at the picture, my eyes are drawn inward across the white table cloth where they meet the symbolic presence of the bride and the groom in the form of the champagne glasses.

They are both anchored in a foundation of common-ness of shared values (symbolized by the table), and both of them are optimistically reaching upward into the blackness of relationship possibilities.

Far from seeing ‘black’ as a somber thing, I see it as the absence of light… just waiting to be filled with whatever lightness that the couple chooses to enhance it with.

They are starting with a clean slate, so to speak, and the ‘lightness’ has another name…

It’s called ‘love’.

As I continue to contemplate your photograph, I find myself imagining a square paper napkin in the foreground positioned to look like a diamond.

The paper in the napkin represents a milestone in the couple’s journey together…The first wedding anniversary.

The diamond shape represents another place in time where their true love might take them…The seventy-fifth wedding anniversary.

Along the way, they pass Year #15, as symbolized by the crystal glass, then, it’s on to Year #25, as shown in the silver stems of the Champagne Glasses.

Between the two glasses is a most interesting sphere of merged flowers surrounded by a thorny ‘mist’ of meandering complexity.

Of all the elements you have chosen to include in this photo, I’d have to say that the flower sphere intrigues me the most.

Love in a Mist

It reminds me of one of the most mysterious, perplexing flowers I’ve ever seen. It’s called ‘Love in a Mist’.

In the case of your photo, I see this flower sphere as symbolizing pureness of the hope and the thorny cloud of incredible challenge that the marriage will present to the couple day-by-day.

Unlike the ideal sentiment that the Carpenters express in their song: ‘a kiss for luck and we’re on our way’, there’s more to the journey than naïve, blissful romance.

The years following the… ‘we’ve only just begun’ stage, will be filled with the kind of lessons that will teach them about new ways to share, communicate, differ in opinion, negotiate, fight, make-up, love–intimately, love–not so intimately, ect.

Will the couple be able to navigate through  the paper, the crystal-glass, the silver, and on to the gold (as symbolized by the color suggested by the flowers)?

I think the answer to that question is poignantly expressed by ‘Enya’ when she sings of an answer that consists of two words:  ‘Only Time’.

See what a well-planned, artistic, picture can do for this meandering guy?

Your initial work shows that you are well on your way to achieving the kind imagery and symbolism that will edify the spirits of both sighted and blind people.

To paraphrase a wise character named Yoda from the realm of Star Wars:

Painting with light,
An artist you are…

Your camera your brush,
a story you tell,

Of deep meanings indeed,
deeper than a well,

Of meanings so bright,
of meanings beyond sight,

As this, said by me,

…the Jedi Knight!

So…to the Aspiring-to-Inspire photographer, this, less-than-Jedi, ‘Meandering Knight’ salutes you.

Oh yes, one other thing.

This very imperfect ‘knight’ has had a tad bit of experience being one of those champagne glasses.

‘Sir Bill’ met another very wonderful ‘champagne glass’ named ‘Christine’ in 1978. He fell in love with her, and the surprisingly resilient marriage that followed continues to this day as it is realistically symbolized by your flower sphere… ensconced in that thorny, challenging ‘mist’.

You are truly on your way to being a world-class photographer for sure!

Come experience the mystical wonder of the realm of butterflies! This touching video was shot at the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, Colorado (near Denver) http://butterflies.org and it was edited and produced by Christine (also known as ‘MeAndri’). 

In addition to this video, she’s got a whole lot of interesting, funny, and deep writings on her website. Check it out at:  http://MysticMeandering.blogspot.com

Here’s her video…enjoy!

This is a creative experiment.

As part of my MeanderingQuest, I would like to imagine this in a story of a poignant,  intensive character named ‘Lisa Prescott ‘and the meandering dramas that confront her and her fellow characters.

 The story is called…

‘Blind Sight’

And here is the Work-In-Progress Plotline

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1. Spiral Castle Productions (SCP) gets the contract to upgrade the Situation Room at Holloman Air Force Base. The project is given the code name: ‘Trinity Matrix’.

2. Treks Whitmore is project manager for Trinity Matrix, and works with the project team at the office in Alamagordo, New Mexico.

3. Lisa Prescott is a Multimedia Specialist at SCP. And she has been assigned to the Trinity Matrix project and must work extensively with Treks.

4. Lisa is a workaholic and has little time for social interaction. She’s lonely and seeks a convenience relationship on-line.

5. Her quest for an on-line friendship takes her to Lance Walmer who is using the chat name of ‘Audio Guy’.

6. Lisa introduces herself as ‘In2ishn Girl’ and her relationship with Audio Guy becomes very satisfying, intense, and intimate. Although she shares a picture of herself in large, dark sunglasses, she never reveals her true identity to Audio Guy but he reveals his true identity to her.

… Find out how the relationship begins to grow and the complication that Treks brings in to Lisa’s life…

Scurry on over to Part 2

Click here to begin Reading at Part 1

If you would prefer, you can listen the entire audio version of the story’s plot.

–> Listen to ‘Heather’ read the plot-line of Blind Sight

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39. Circumstances with Avery’s pregnancy, Lance’s Issues with Avery and his troubles with Homeland security go from bad to worse.

40. But things begin to turn around.

41. Events evolve to reveal that Lance is innocent and that Treks is the real threat.

42. Treks gets implicated. Barb gets exonerated, Lance and Avery finally get past the tragedy that has entered their lives, and Lisa falls in love with Ben.

But…

That’s not the end of this on-going story, because Lisa has yet to discover whether or not she will get her sight back, and, she continues to ponder whether she will ever reveal herself to Lance.

43. Lisa’s ultimate outcome, her intensely difficult decision whether or not to reveal her true identity to ‘Audio Guy’, and Lance and Avery’s new live together will be explored and dramatized in books to come in this multi-book, blog-novel series.

The story continues in Blog Novel #2…

In the meantime, watch this blog in the weeks ahead for postings of the full novel as it comes to you chapter-by-chapter!

Click here to begin Reading at Part 1

If you would prefer, you can listen the entire audio version of the story’s plot.

–> Listen to ‘Heather’ read the plot-line of Blind Sight

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29. Lisa becomes very active at DCP and develops a very close relationship with Avery, who is now working with an audio engineer called Lance.

30. Avery asks Lisa to become involved in the project. Lisa meets Lance. She knows who he is, but Lance doesn’t recognize who she is.

However, some of the things she says sound vaguely familiar to him, and her appearance looks roughly similar to that of In2ishn Girl (who is a natural blond), but there are enough differences to cast deep doubt, since she has dyed her hair brown.

31. The roller-coaster, working relationship between Avery and Lance grows and a romance begins to form.

32. Both Avery and Lance bring a lot of very hurtful emotional baggage into the relationship so this romance is highly extraordinary and unpredictable.

33. However, in the process of growing together, natural urges propel Avery and Lance into a very passionate relationship which results in Avery getting pregnant.

34. This makes Lance’s situation worse because he has been informed that he ‘a person of interest’ in an espionage investigation and his activities are being closely monitored. And he is extremely worried about Avery.

35. While all this is going on, another agent from Homeland Security, ‘Ben Rawlings’ is brought into the case, because their some people in Washington, DC that think that Lance is being falsely accused for yet-to-discover reasons.

36. Ben’s responsibility is to discover the real truth about what’s going on with Treks, Barb, Lance, Lisa and the Blind Sight project.

37. Ben shows up in Denver about the time that Avery discovers that she is pregnant.

38. Ben begins the investigation by interviewing all parties. He is extremely objective, but, he begins to feel something very special and wonderful for Lisa.

Lives change as events evolve, will closure bring new perspectives?

Glide into Part 8 for intriguing perspectives on the conclusion of this part of the story

It all started with an ad…

I met with Nancy at the Stirrings Café in the Koelbel Public Library on a mild Monday morning in March.

But this was not my first time at the little café and used book store at the library.  I have actually been a library patron for years. I would spend several hours at a time browsing and studying and writing website material in the midst of the quiet stacks filled with books that are such a comfort to me.

This was my Meandering Quest in a place called Koelbel!

I became acquainted with Nancy over the years, taking many coffee and muffin breaks in the little coffee shop, striking up brief conversations as she served me.

After getting my brainstorm idea – while at the library – to do the MeanderingQuest stories, I immediately thought of interviewing Nancy.

She agreed, and here we are…

We sat together at the table closest to the Stirrings counter over a cup of Boulder’s finest, Silver Canyon Coffee, amongst shelves of used books and local artist’s paintings for sale on the wall behind us.

Across the room was a puzzle table where they keep a puzzle going at all times for patrons to work on while they browse and relax.  The café was fairly quiet.  As we talked, customers would arrive at the counter and Nancy would get up to serve them.

And so I said to her – “Tell me your story.”

Nancy got a degree in Early Childhood Development from CSU and taught at preschools for a while before she had kids of her own, becoming a stay-at-home Mom with 3 kids.

Years ago, she said, she answered an ad in the Highlands Ranch Herald for a part-time delivery job.  There was an entrepreneur living in Littleton, Colorado selling frozen fruit bars looking for a one-day-a-week delivery person.

Nancy thought this might work well for her because she could take her young son along on the delivery runs.  She ended up doing this for three years.

Her boss then decided to go into the coffee shop business, and opened a shop in downtown Littleton called ‘Romancing the Bean.’  He also opened a shop at the Hudson Gardens on the Platte River that serviced patrons from the Gardens, and hikers from the path that ran behind the Gardens on Santa Fe Drive.

The owner also started the Stirrings Café at the Koelbel Library as a third business.  He and his sister owned the three businesses and worked the locations together, but soon realized they needed someone to work the café at the library.  They hired a part-time manager and asked Nancy to be the part-time assistant.

Nancy said she accepted the job because she was looking for part-time work and thought making coffee in the library sounded like a fun job.  She started a week before 9-11, working 8-10 hours a week; a good working schedule for a Mom with school-age children.

After a year the manager left and Nancy became the new manager, increasing her hours to about 20 hours a week. Shortly after, the owner decided to dedicate more time to his other locations and asked Nancy if she would be interested in buying the business.

Nancy took a risk and decided to buy Stirrings Café in December 2003, entering into a partnership with the library district at that time.  She has been the owner for nearly 6 years now and it has become quite successful for her.

Her business at Stirrings has grown steadily to where she now has three employees: Two high school students, and ‘Sue’ who is retired and thoroughly enjoys her job.  Nancy’s two teenage daughters have also worked in the café from time to time.

Nancy explained to me that her job is not just to serve coffee and goodies over the counter, but to market to the various groups that use the meeting rooms at the Library.

Taking this initiative is what has helped her to be successful.  She obtains the meeting schedules every week and contacts each group’s coordinator to see if they want catered refreshments or just to make an announcement to their group about the availability of the Stirrings Café for beverages, snacks, and lunches during their meetings and breaks.

Nancy once again paused and went to serve a customer a ‘White Chocolate Mocha’ . “It was one of the more popular orders lately”, she commented, but she quickly added that the lattes and regular mochas were also well liked, and in demand.

She also mentioned that with the early warm weather she was selling more smoothies and frozen coffee drinks, which she prepares in the blender behind the counter.

Nancy loves meeting and serving the wide variety of people each day, both young and old.

There are the “regulars” – like me – and then there are the little kids who come for story time at the library and stop by the café to work the puzzle with their parents, as well as students and browsers of books, and people who gather there for their group meetings. This offers her an assortment of experiences throughout the week.

She feels fortunate that she got to learn the business in steps, starting as a part time employee, taking over as manager and then actually owning the business herself.

In reflecting on her experience at Stirrings, Nancy said that in her youth she would have never dreamed that she would have a coffee shop of her own:

“Growing up, I’ve always loved working with kids.  I babysat a lot, and coached youth sports teams, and knew I wanted to major in early Childhood Development.  I always thought I’d be doing something with children, but I never would have seen myself doing this, and I absolutely love it!”

Although the neon “Stirrings” sign has long been burned out, Nancy keeps the coffee stirring in a job that has brought her enjoyment and satisfaction on a daily basis.  She doesn’t know where her MeanderingQuest will take her in the future.  For now she is content to be where the path took her many years ago…

Information on the Stirrings Café:

Stirrings Café, located in the Koelbel Public Library in Centennial, Colorado provides a convenient, comfortable place to enjoy beverages and snacks while browsing used books, or studying at the library.

Stirrings Café can also provide catering services for your group meetings at the library.

If you would like to comment on Nancy’s Story, please click here

and then scroll to the bottom.

Return to ‘People on the Quest’ Page

Click here to begin Reading at Part 1

If you would prefer, you can listen the entire audio version of the story’s plot.

–> Listen to ‘Heather’ read the plot-line of Blind Sight

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24. Prior to Lisa’s trip, and, in cooperation with the investigative authorities, Treks contacts Barb Fox. He asks her to use her emotionally seductive appeal to persuade an audio engineer named, ‘Lance’ to get involved in a very meaningful volunteer project at the Denver Center for the Blind.

(Barb is a Business Systems Analyst, on contract with the Denver Fire Department which is an avid organizational supporter of DCP programs.)

Barb is excited about this opportunity and decides to contact, ‘Avery’, the Center’s administrative coordinator, to get Lance involved in recently initiated project called ‘Blind Sight’.

Barb knows that Treks is conspiring with the Homeland Security agents to use the Blind Sight project to investigate Lance. But she doesn’t know that the strategy is a malicious set-up.

Indeed, if she knew that this was really a revenge-motivated trap intended to frame him for treasonous espionage, then she would never have agreed to be involved.

25. From Treks’ perspective, the idea makes perfect sense because this would eliminate Lance from Lisa’s life and she would have to marry Treks.

26. Since Lisa never makes it to Denver for the meeting with Lance, he is totally unaware of her plans and just figures that the meeting with Olivia at the Tattered Cover Bookstore coffee shop was to discuss that philosophical book as she had mentioned in the phone call.

27. Olivia and Susan are extremely perplexed about what happened to Lisa.

Susan calls back to the SCP, and Janet, Lisa’s boss, tells her that “something came up at work,” and Lisa and Treks had to do a special project.

28. So now, Olivia and Susan are assuming that Lisa is back in New Mexico and they have no idea that Lisa is living with a trans-gendered couple, not more than three miles away in Glendale.

Events and circumstances shift as new relationships form in Part 7