Richard's Death

Just got the news today that Richard died of a massive stroke.

There's something that I want to say about this, but I don't know what it is. I see now why it took Bayard a couple of days to post the info to the list.

Richard was an immuner. He was all about doing immunics and helping people figure out what they needed. He was a problem-solver for other people. But as far as doing for himself what he needed, not so much.

This makes me think of two instances of being an immuner. The first is when I got sick a few weeks ago because I didn't remove what I'd caught from out in the world as soon as I knew I'd caught it. I experienced hubris first hand; I thought, "oh, I've knocked out colds in much more advanced stages than this; I'll help mom remove hers, and I'll get mine later." hoHO.

The second thing this makes me think of is Bayard's testing mushrooms for a party that they were giving years ago. He tested some that they should definitely not eat, then he tested that some were okay to eat; but, then everyone who ate them got sick. It makes me remember that the harmonic can be very specific and explicit and not always accurate from our individual points of view: I'm sure that the mushrooms were edible, in some prepared condition, or in some manner. But Bayard didn't go far *enough* with the testing: he stopped with the yes/no answer to his question. He's learned and taught a lot since then.

So I think what I want to say about all of this is that immunics is a tool. As such, we have to use it for it to work. And we have to use it for what it's good for: using a screwdriver as a hammer only leads to heartbreak and bruised fingers. And we have to be timely in our use. Knowing that we need to do something, we need to understand that we need to do it NOW: the harmonic does not speak across time, it speaks the present. This is why we can test that we're free of something and then ten minutes later test that we aren't.

Live in the present.

Rely on the harmonic, but not always your ability to ask the right questions.

Understand the individuated self as part of the larger mechanism.

Death is not such a bad thing; accepting death, when we still have the chance, the gift, and the skill to live, is.

Richard, I miss you very much. Thank you for giving us all so much of yourself and for reminding us, as Bayard often does, that the way to make immunics work for other people is to show them how it's working for us: Give the gift of a connected life to yourself first; when others see that, then they will be ready to receive the gift of immunics.

And thanks, Richard, for leaving us so many cure shows, where I can continue to hear your oh-so-sexy voice.