The Network Garden

Growing up, I went to a big public high school in San Fernando Valley (aka “The Valley”) with 3,000+ students, grades 10-12.

Everyone’s mileage varies, but for me, high school – and this particular high school  – was probably my most formative period, where and when I up-leveled as a person.

As anyone who has read my posts knows, I am a big believer in the goodness of taking inventory on Experiences, Learnings, and Points of Awareness, so as to record, make sense of, and adapt to the continuum of life.

With that as a backdrop, the event was great, with 100+ classmates, a cross between lifelong friends, point-in-time friends, and classmates whom I crossed paths with to varying degrees, most of whom I remember well.

Quite a few traversed junior high, high school and college, and a tiny few went all the way back to nursery school.

Having now taken it all in, it was:

A)  A window into how I was perceived at that point in time
B)  An opportunity to commiserate on shared experiences

I was reminded of how many “firsts” I experienced with (more than) a few of them.

It was a chance to experience the different journeys each of us had taken.

A chance to remember a truly great friend, who had passed long ago.

It was a bit like speed dating, which was both frenetic and smile inducing.

It was an opportunity to look back to a point in time, gathered from multiple takes and perspectives, fire-hosed over three hours.

What stood the test of time for me?

How had I (and others) changed and evolved?

How different the times were then.

We did not talk a lick of politics, though more than a few of us celebrated the Dodgers incredible playoff run and World Series Championship.

The net out of it all is gratitude for so many moments of a life lived.