“ We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”

 ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m writing about ‘cohorts’ — an odd word that happens to be top-of-mind today. Definition’s range from “a group of people who share a characteristic” to simply “a colleague or companion.” The word is all of the above… and more.

For me, it boils down to people who went through an experience together.

Broadly speaking, we’re talking about giant swaths of the generational zeitgeist such as the original hippies, punk rockers in the late 70s and early 80s, or the DJs and dancers who put rave culture on the map in the early 90s.

Yet it’s the smallest groups that leave the deepest marks. When you’ve really “been through something“ with a handful of other people, you know them in a different way. A lasting bond is formed in your consciousness.

You did a teacher’s training, you graduated from an intensive, you traveled with a group to an exotic locale. Even if you don’t keep up with your companions on these journeys, their spirits become reference points in your way of being.

I stay in touch with a few of my old cronies from the Denver punk scene. There’s a Facebook group with several thousand people who claim to have “raved in the San Francisco Bay Area” in the 90s — (check out the new documentary featuring your truly — ‘Between the Beats’). I still know members of the SRL crew I worked with helping Mark Pauline with his ‘theater of machinery’ shows back in the 80s.

More to the point today, however, is the crew of the Robert Gray. Back in the early ‘00s, I found myself living and working on a 120’ foot tug boat that had been converted first to a scientific research vessel and later into a large co-op residence that was moored in Richmond‘s Marina Bay.

There was a large cast of characters who came and went, with the largest ship in the marina we were the social hub for an eclectic community of live-a-boards.

Curt Lind was the captain, myself and two other fellows were the core of the cohort, if you will. The ship moved on and we disbanded, but over the years we have stayed in touch and occasionally got together.

Captain Curt was a legend. He met a tragic demise a few days ago. We’re reeling from the shock — there’s a Curt-sized hole running right through our cohort’s hearts.

It’s Monday now. Today I learned that the Reverend Micheal King Sr. traveled to Germany during the rise of the Nazis in 1934 where he discovered the works of the original Martin Luther, the 14th century architect of the Reformation. He came home and changed both his and his son’s names to Martin Luther King.

I can’t help but contrast the ethos of the regime sworn in today with the vision of the late Doctor. Irony will outlive us all. But here we are.

Remember your cohorts while you still can and reach out to one soon. Love and blessings till next week 😉

M+

ML #611

Mark Metz
Director of the Dance First Association
Publisher of Conscious Dancer Magazine