Thanks for the engaging writing and weaving your personal story so elegantly.
My life is full of such examples, maybe because I look for them, maybe because that’s how I make sense of the world or maybe because a butterfly somewhere long ago, said so.
2011, my five year old stepdaughter sings at a cafe as we wait in line. An old gentleman hears her, looks up and he complements her melodic voice. We start talking and it turns out he writes children’s books. Oh, that’s been my dream. To write for children, I say. I am a filmmaker first though. Oh, really, he engages me further in a southern accent. My son is just starting out in film. Would you consider mentoring him?
Twelve years later his son and I are partners in a film company. All because of the song of a child...who happened to be in a joyful mood that morning, sharing her voice with the world.
Bogdan, what an incredible example of a serendipitous link, of a young child singing in the most childlike fashion leading to a creative partnership. I wonder if all of our lives are made of these types of examples and we overlook many of them because we are preoccupied looking at other things.
And thanks for your compliment on the essay. I was pleased at how it came together.
Spencer….I am glad you are Spencer, and not Zachary. Your name suits you. I thoroughly enjoyed this piece. I am connected to you firstly, through Heather Marie, my daughter, your partner, and I value that connection. Again, the way you weave your life experience, and important people in your life, with the topics you are writing about, is masterful. Loved learning more about your interesting family history, and the strong, resourceful, and remarkable humans related by blood, and traits!
Your mention of butterflies is another connection, as I raise Monarch Butterflies, and have released more than 100 so far. My interest in those began in childhood, when my mom, Heather Marie’s Mimi, used to raise a few Monarchs for her fourth grade class each year. We helped her by finding Milkweed, finding eggs and caterpillars, and making sure they stayed fed while the kids learned about their life cycle.
I agree that Zachary doesn't seem like the right name for me. And thanks for the kind words! Glad that we are linked so closely through Heather Marie and that you got to learn a little bit more about where I come from.
Heather Marie has told me about the butterfly connection with Mimi, and, in fact, when we see a butterfly flapping in the wild Heather Marie will always say hi Mimi. Y'all have so many fascinating stories from the Constantine family. It seemed like there was never a dull moment, which certainly makes sense given the personalities (in the best way) of all the siblings.
Butterfly effect connection for sure. Even a connection with me. I am connected through your mention of Ray Bradbury.
Last week I thought of the mini series The Martian Chronicles and was curious what the story was behind it. So I Wikipeded about the series. Turns out it was written by Ray Bradbury. So I start reading about him. It turns out he inspired by a book written by Andrew Sherwood called WINESBURG, Ohio.
A fictional town for the book but is an actual town that I had just driven through that is roughly 10 miles from where I live!! I had driven through the town to get to Wilmot, Ohio to pick up an Amish man to give me an estimate for some work.
So about a month ago I drive through the town WINESBURG, that is a fictional story to a book that Ray Bradbury liked, who was mentioned in your post about the belt buckle.
I really enjoyed this article, impinging as it does on some of the universe's most intriguing mysteries, related to free will and randomness and fatality. With your references to rabbinic thought, I was surprised that you did not mention my favorite enigmatic talmudic statement: Everything is foreseen, but we have free choice (Pirkei Avot 3:15) -- or at least Isaac Bashevis Singer's clever observation: "Of course I believe in free will -- I have no choice." I myself refuse to settle on any position for the mystery. I think the universe is much more interesting with questions than with answers.
Glad you enjoyed the article and thanks for the comment! I agree the the universe is more interesting with questions than answers, but seeking answers can be it’s own form of excitement too--at least for me. I actually hadn’t heard of the Singer quote, but it is just a beautiful turn of phrase that packs quite a bit of insight. And there are so many enigmatic Talmudic statements. I’ve really only started taking a more serious interest in Jewish thought in recent years. I was raised in a pretty relaxed Reform congregation that didn’t really introduce me to a very broad range of thought. So now you’ve given me a couple of new rabbit holes to go down!
Thanks for the engaging writing and weaving your personal story so elegantly.
My life is full of such examples, maybe because I look for them, maybe because that’s how I make sense of the world or maybe because a butterfly somewhere long ago, said so.
2011, my five year old stepdaughter sings at a cafe as we wait in line. An old gentleman hears her, looks up and he complements her melodic voice. We start talking and it turns out he writes children’s books. Oh, that’s been my dream. To write for children, I say. I am a filmmaker first though. Oh, really, he engages me further in a southern accent. My son is just starting out in film. Would you consider mentoring him?
Twelve years later his son and I are partners in a film company. All because of the song of a child...who happened to be in a joyful mood that morning, sharing her voice with the world.
Bogdan, what an incredible example of a serendipitous link, of a young child singing in the most childlike fashion leading to a creative partnership. I wonder if all of our lives are made of these types of examples and we overlook many of them because we are preoccupied looking at other things.
And thanks for your compliment on the essay. I was pleased at how it came together.
Spencer….I am glad you are Spencer, and not Zachary. Your name suits you. I thoroughly enjoyed this piece. I am connected to you firstly, through Heather Marie, my daughter, your partner, and I value that connection. Again, the way you weave your life experience, and important people in your life, with the topics you are writing about, is masterful. Loved learning more about your interesting family history, and the strong, resourceful, and remarkable humans related by blood, and traits!
Your mention of butterflies is another connection, as I raise Monarch Butterflies, and have released more than 100 so far. My interest in those began in childhood, when my mom, Heather Marie’s Mimi, used to raise a few Monarchs for her fourth grade class each year. We helped her by finding Milkweed, finding eggs and caterpillars, and making sure they stayed fed while the kids learned about their life cycle.
Thank you for your writing!
I agree that Zachary doesn't seem like the right name for me. And thanks for the kind words! Glad that we are linked so closely through Heather Marie and that you got to learn a little bit more about where I come from.
Heather Marie has told me about the butterfly connection with Mimi, and, in fact, when we see a butterfly flapping in the wild Heather Marie will always say hi Mimi. Y'all have so many fascinating stories from the Constantine family. It seemed like there was never a dull moment, which certainly makes sense given the personalities (in the best way) of all the siblings.
Butterfly effect connection for sure. Even a connection with me. I am connected through your mention of Ray Bradbury.
Last week I thought of the mini series The Martian Chronicles and was curious what the story was behind it. So I Wikipeded about the series. Turns out it was written by Ray Bradbury. So I start reading about him. It turns out he inspired by a book written by Andrew Sherwood called WINESBURG, Ohio.
A fictional town for the book but is an actual town that I had just driven through that is roughly 10 miles from where I live!! I had driven through the town to get to Wilmot, Ohio to pick up an Amish man to give me an estimate for some work.
So about a month ago I drive through the town WINESBURG, that is a fictional story to a book that Ray Bradbury liked, who was mentioned in your post about the belt buckle.
Odd coincidence?
Thanks for sharing those connections! It also reminds me of some of the ideas that I was exploring last week about our interconnected lives.
I really enjoyed this article, impinging as it does on some of the universe's most intriguing mysteries, related to free will and randomness and fatality. With your references to rabbinic thought, I was surprised that you did not mention my favorite enigmatic talmudic statement: Everything is foreseen, but we have free choice (Pirkei Avot 3:15) -- or at least Isaac Bashevis Singer's clever observation: "Of course I believe in free will -- I have no choice." I myself refuse to settle on any position for the mystery. I think the universe is much more interesting with questions than with answers.
Glad you enjoyed the article and thanks for the comment! I agree the the universe is more interesting with questions than answers, but seeking answers can be it’s own form of excitement too--at least for me. I actually hadn’t heard of the Singer quote, but it is just a beautiful turn of phrase that packs quite a bit of insight. And there are so many enigmatic Talmudic statements. I’ve really only started taking a more serious interest in Jewish thought in recent years. I was raised in a pretty relaxed Reform congregation that didn’t really introduce me to a very broad range of thought. So now you’ve given me a couple of new rabbit holes to go down!