That large white object is not the moon, although it could be. It’s a balloon - symbolizing letting go….it’s a beautiful post that is worth the read! So why this photo? Who is Seth Raphael?

Seth Raphael, “Magic Seth” to his blog readers, is now a married man! Congratulations! I met Seth at TED Global 2009 when we were both interviewed for a short video for the National Library Association. He also heard my talk about homelessness. In his blog post, “Letting Go,” and writes, in part:

“Before our grand event in Massachusetts, we’d been living in Portland Oregon. I had a job, we had an apartment and extended family very nearby. Within twenty four hours of getting back from TED, and eighteen hours before Cullen would fly East to prepare for the wedding, we had a crazy idea. Let’s move out right now, before the wedding. Circumstances had conspired for me to leave my job, and at whatever hour of the evening it was, it seemed like a tremendously good idea to move out of our apartment before August 1st, and therefore avoid paying a month of rent. A whirlwind of packing made the night a daze, and in the morning I drove Cullen to the airport. Opening the door to our apartment after dropping her off revealed the wreckage our whirlwind had laid out. I had another twenty four hours to pack everything into a U-Haul, and put it into storage… in Monterey CA, the place we had decided to call our new home. I found a willing Portlander heading South to split the 12 hour drive in a 10-foot truck, and I waved goodbye to our home, thinking fondly of Becky Blanton’s story of homelessness.”

It touched me to be remembered thus….seriously. Because that first leap, that “letting go,” is really all about potential and not about falling. It’s not until we start to fall that we learn we can fly.

Congratulations to Seth and his new bride. May you both remember your “homelessness” with fondness on your first anniversary!!