The free online gathering “Tracker Stories” held last Sunday went very well. There were over 250 people who registered and about 1/3 of them were able to attend live. The 2 hour session was roughly a 50/50 mix of stories from past & present staff and stories from students. We will definitely do this again! We’re aiming for every 3 months, one per season, so the next one will be in October. Many thanks to all who shared stories, including Nancy Klein, Elizabeth Moes, Randy Walker, Jorge Brana, Dr. Jim Brown, Victor Wooten, Jon Young, and also the students Stephen, Greg, Debbie, Norma, Rana, Dick & Vicki.
I know a handful of you had a problem with logging into your Tracker School account because of password issues; if you need to reset your password please send an email to registration@trackerschool.com and ask Kelly to send a temp password so you can change it.
I don’t post anything publicly which features students unless I have explicit approval, so in this case I’ve put together an audio excerpt from the gathering which includes the following speakers: 00:00:00 Dave Ott 00:02:53 Nancy Klein 00:07:06 Elizabeth Moes 00:10:48 Randy Walker 00:15:38 Dave Ott 00:16:57 Jorge Brana 00:18:19 Dave Ott 00:19:39 Dr. Jim Brown 00:27:11 Victor Wooten 00:35:37 Jon Young 00:49:16 Jorge Brana
An interesting observation from many who were at the memorial gathering for Tom was how powerful and impactful the shared stories were. Interesting not because it was a surprise – we all know the regard Tom had for the power of story, and we’ve all felt the effects and inspiration of a well told (and well re-lived) story. Rather, interesting because the power seemed to stem as much from the sharing as it did the story itself. Those stories didn’t exist in a vacuum. They were part of a dance between the story, the storyteller, and those who listened. A string of moments in the present where past events were honored by respectful silence or raucous laughter so that they might continue to inspire future generations. In other words, it was pretty cool. So we’ve decided to continue that dance of stories.
Maybe every 3 months, maybe more, maybe less, there will be an online gathering where it’s just any of us sharing stories about our experiences with Tom and our times at the Tracker School. Could be stories of your favorite hallucination at Scout class, or when Inner Vision finally made sense as you were running to the portabobs, or the class group you were in a decade or two ago that still gets together, or stealing the last chocolate-covered donut from Tom, or the time you had to cry because the magnificent beauty of everything around you in the cedar swamp was just too much to bear and it just happened out of nowhere and you didn’t know what to do and you couldn’t hold it in and “damn it, I guess I’m just going to sit here and bawl my eyes out for a moment as the universe rubs my back”.
Well then… you get the idea.
Tom said “the story is not carried in your mind. It’s carried in your heart. Stories that are told from the mind lack impact. They no longer inspire you, so how could they ever inspire another? How could they ever be conveyed with their full power? Your stories have to be carried in your heart, deep inside, with that connection as real and as vital as the day you first found that story, you first lived that story.” So what stories are in your heart that you’ll share with our community, with all of us?
Looking forward to hearing from you at the first of these ‘Tracker Stories’ classes this Sunday, July 20th, starting at 10 a.m. EST until whenever. Figure an hour or two. There is no cost, just click the link below to register for the class. There won’t be any confirmation email immediately after registering – you’ll get an email with the link to join the meeting a few hours before we start. If you don’t receive the link, and it’s not in your spam folder, send an email to david@trackeraudio.com and one will be sent. This online gathering will be recorded and sent out to all who were registered, so even if you can’t be there live you can still be a part of it:) Blessings.
Tracker 