Thing 22 What I Learned Today

One last picture from France, this one again from Montpellier. During another stroll through the city I came upon this building, set in a lovely little park. What caught my eye (and which you probably can't see in the picture, unless you click on the image to get the larger view) is the sign for this building carved in the lintel above the door. It reads, simply, "Archives." A good, strong, solid image for a building that holds such records, but not terribly inviting to the public. One of the many things I learned today, and something that's been a thread through a lot of these Things, is the sense of inviting one into a community and the importance of being a part of a community. And its a two way street. Traffic is moving both in and out. We need to be out and about, on the highways and byways of this brave new world as much as we need to be tending to the things all around us, the things for which we have a responsibility. In my case, its a sense of stewardship, of passing the riches that I'm responsible for to a next generation. Much of what I care for in my work is as old, or older, than this building. Its all still standing, its all important, and these tools that I've been exposed to will help me to care in new ways, not only for the rarities of my realm, but for those who cross the space that is "Archives."

The other thing I learned, or had reinforced, is the need to create a discipline to learn more, to carve out that time to make it happen. Its part of the lifeblood that helps make it easy to get up each morning and look at the possibilities of the new day. Enough for now. Its on to the last Thing and then time for rest.