Riding the Cosmic Carpet
I can’t say it was public although I know many people were saddened. I didn’t know the day or time he died. I wasn’t in his inner circle nor did I really know him very well at all. In all actuality, I had only spent one weekend with him when I was in my early twenties and he was about 30 years my senior. I had read several of his books on energy medicine and knew I just absolutely had to study with him. So, being the seeker that I was, I traipsed up to Ashland, Oregon, to attend one of his weekend retreats. My connection with him was instant – the kind of connection that transcended time and space, and as he said, “If he had been 15 or so years younger and me 15 or so years older…”
He was so tapped in – as if plugged into the power socket of life, his world was electrifying. Everything he did was experiential – it was as if we were riding a cosmic carpet through consciousness itself. What I didn’t know at that time was that Jack Swartz was to be my liaison to Steve Jobs, and introduce me to the world of technology that was soon and over time going to have its way with me. I was going to learn to not only love it, but to feel the kind of gratitude that one feels to a close loved one, family member, or friend.
Years before I ever heard the words Apple, laptop, iPod, iPhone or iPad I was resisting getting my first answering machine because it seemed to be such an impersonal way to have one’s phone answered. Once I had it, however, I felt the excitement of my newfound technological friend. In response to my new answering machine superiority compounded with naivety, Jack whispered to me one of the greatest secrets of my life: “Never,” he said, “Never let yourself fall behind the wave of technology…always be riding the wave.” I have come to see over the years, not only as a consumer of everything “i and Apple” that he was absolutely right. His sage council has been a tailwind on my technological journey and where Jack Schwartz transitioned on so many years ago now, Steve Jobs ascended to his rightful place on the technological wave while I humbly surfed in his lovely wake. To Jack and Steve, I am forever in gratitude for your vision, gifts and blessings!!!