Memories

Leonard Nimoy passed away last week (2/27/15) at 83 years old. His face and voice bring back fond childhood memories of family gatherings around the television, each of us watching our favorite character and completely transporting into space. Me? I secretly coveted Mr. Spock. His calmness in crisis, logic and focus were very appealing to me. As an adult I can now appreciate additional complexities in this culturally mixed man - his internal conflict between emotion and logic, being of Earth and Vulkin; the struggle with self acceptance and the exploration of what it meant to be human. My all-time favorite scene is from the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, where Spock sacrifices himself for the sake of the crew. This lesson of "the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few" has stayed with me - I can close my eyes and see the entire scene - makes my eyes tear up even now. But it is his last quote, his last tweet, that resonates today: "A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory"...reminding me that life is short - and fleeting - that making each moment count is more important than ever. This quote goes up on the inspiration wall in my office along with Gandhi's "Be the Change," The Buddha's "What We Think, We Become," and Brené Brown's "Owning Our Story" - seems a fitting end to the process of embracing who we are - changing what we see needs changing, being brave and making every moment count.

Thank you Mr. Nimoy for your strength of character, your poetic words and the memories your work created for us all. I will cherish each one.