And then the unconference Crafting {:} a Life had ended, and you have to come back to the regular flow of things. Dealing with the aftermath so to speak. Sunday, still on PEI, we spent mostly hanging out on the deck in Peter and Catherine’s back yard. Then we joined some lobsters on the flight to Montréal.
Monday we had a day to explore Montréal, before our early evening flight to Amsterdam. Now fighting jet lag on the couch, and trying to figure out how to take time this week to reflect and write more on the event.
Impressions of Montréal
Sunset over Labrador
It is good to see that the event is already causing ripples that move forwards in time. Rosie started a blog with support for IndieWeb standards, and Clark thinks he may permanently reshape his approach to workshops and presentations. I’ve also got a conference call planned with Mark on organising an unconference around the creative hub / makerspace project he is shaping.
And that is the real way participants can thank Peter for organising Crafting {:} a Life, and how ‘our’ participants, such as Peter did these past days, have thanked and are thanking us for our events: by taking something out of it and run with it. Bring it forward. Not an aftermath therefore, but unconference forwarding.
Blog posts about Crafting {:} a Life from people who were there:
Crafting {:} a Life Unconference Day 1
Crafting {:} a Life Unconference Day 2
Crafting {:} a Saga
Leaving PEI
Fantasy Cartography
Crafting {:} a Life
Crafting {:} a Life initial impressions
Press Pound to Publish
Communication does count
Crafting {:} a Blog
Three Conversations about Blogging
Unconference Aftermath / Unconference Forwarding
Connection Problem
Canada — Crafting {:} a Life (Flickr photos)
Crafting {:} a Reflection
If you’ve written something I didn’t catch, please let me know.
Weblogs | Crafting {:} a Life
Today friends and family gathered to celebrate the life of Catherine. Human meaning, being human, the richness of human interaction, to me is not about the grand gestures, but the small pieces. Acknowledging a familiar face elsewhere in the group. A shared laugh in recognition, a small story, shedding a tear in response to someone’s voice breaking up over a tiny anecdote. Catherine’s art displayed around the church, photos from her life being projected. Remembering the conversations we had out on their deck last June. It was very good to be part of it.
Except I wasn’t really. Because the celebration took place on Prince Edward Island, an ocean and five time zones away, and I was at home on my own couch.
Except I really was, and so were some three dozen others from across North-America, around Europe, and Indonesia, amongst which other dear friends of ours, visible to each other in the chat window.
Thanks to the live stream that Peter set-up he enabled us all to participate. Technology was our mediator this afternoon, as it was when I ‘joined’ Oliver’s birthday last year. It once more made true what I’ve held for years, that empathy can flow over copper wires and fiber optic cables. Beaming us into the presence of Peter and Oliver and all those around them, to be witness, to share, and to show and confirm ourselves to each other as being part of shared community. I am grateful it could be that way today.