We are the bridge from past to future

Calvin’s Journal Entry 26 November 2023

Remembrance Of Someone Who Has Died

When a fellow traveler transitions, that means their corporeal body ceases, that does not mean their existence or spirit is at an end. Only that it has transformed.

I can remember my German teacher Doctor Maria Steele observing me daydreaming in class one day, and she said to me: “Calvin, you need to bring your mental sharpness back now, I need more than just your corporeal presence in this classroom.”

I have come to learn that Corporeal describes something that has a physical form. Spirit on the other hand is the Conscious life of the individual.

One of Cambridge On-Line English Dictionary descriptions of Spirit is:

Noun - a particular way of thinking, feeling, or behaving, especially a way that is typical of a particular group of people, an activity, a time, or a place.

A. …Acted in a spirit of cooperation.

B. … Have a very strong team spirit.

C. …They were very much part of the spirit of the age/times.


The deceased fellow travelers we hold close to us, like our friends and family members are the spirits we hold dearest to us. These people in fact are very much part of our living existence, and they are part of the times and ages we live in.

Being a member of the Prosperos School, brought me in contact with one such friend, an extended family member, teacher, fellow student, and fellow traveler on Life’s path. Her name was Mary Ritley (M.R.). Her spirit was very impactful to my life, so much so, that her Spirit lives on in my Consciousness. My past interaction with her spirit helps inform my decisions and moods today.

Carl Carter, Mary Ritley and Tim Dickey

In times past, there was a monthly small group of us that would get together at Mary’s home for a potluck dinner - to eat, drink, tell stories, and share life experiences. Mary was my mentor, teacher, and counselor. On these potluck occasions, in an informal and fun way, she helped me to formulate and ask questions about cultures and history that played a big part in my existence and how life appeared. She would direct me to do my own research, on the history and cultures of people that formed my background. In these informal gatherings with fun, we’d discuss questions on the historical ideologies of cultures, that in time helped me move into a fuller understanding of my constructed self, not only as a mixed racially and culturally gay male, but more importantly as Creative Consciousness itself.

M.R. was one of the ones that were instrumental in my seeing that I needed to step into my being as a bridge from the past into the future. That we do not live our lives just for ourselves. That we do live in a corporeal world. That we can be influencers as to how we show up in that corporeal world and to expect a fuller life, that is then reflected by what we do and say. This happens only if we step outside of the constrictions of our egos, false identifications, and beliefs.

M.R. showed me that through community interactions we could find truth and know it through our practice, practice, practice of the techniques.

I learned from Marion Bell, another teacher within the Prosperos, that practice, practice, practice, can transform a voice into an instrument of music. But it was what was inside the person after they learned the basics that could then turn that gift of sound from the ordinary, into a classical master, or jazz improvisation master. Yet that could only happen when you knew more, practiced more, and had the courage to move out of your safe comfort zone.

One of the unwritten requirements of a student in the Prosperos is that when they move into a position of authority in their own life, and within the life of others, that they pass on the knowledge they received to those who follow after them. Mary Ritley, Marion Bell live on, long after their corporeal bodies end, in me as Spirit, as acts of sharing in what they instructed. Instruction that is interpreted like jazz through my practice and my authentic somatic being.

In a School like the Prosperos, we teach laws, rules, and regulations that are principle based, meaning these laws, rules, and regulations are created to induce students to ask why? To be their authentic selves, rather than to be abiders of laws, meaning not to follow the you must or must not do this or that or the other without clear understanding of why they are there.

We are a School to teach how to think, thus we learn the spirit of the law, rule, etc. not the letter of the law. Mary Ritley, as a good counseling mentor, led me to the adventure of the question WHAT? Joseph Cambell describes the What as:

“What is it we are questing for?” It is the fulfillment of that which is potential in each of us. Questing for it is not an Ego trip; It is an Adventure to bring into fulfillment your gift to the world, which is yourself.” I am grateful for the spirit of Mary Ritley, Marion Bell and others that moved me forward, as I also understand from their example that I have the obligation to make this adventure available for those who come after me, to help direct and move them along on their journey as fellow travelers, to help them towards their What.

Blessings ,

Calvin