I was sitting in a replica 1920’s cabaret bar in Buenos Aires, called Señor Tango, trying my best to not be grossed out by the insane amount of meat that everyone around me was eating when I heard the news.
It was not entirely unexpected… I think most of us feared it was coming since the news of his resignation as Apple’s CEO. But to have it be real, to know with certainty that such a bright light of genius was extinguished hit my heart with an intensity I could not have imagined.
I did not know Steve the man… but as I sit here writing on my Macbook Pro, listening to my iPod Shuffle and dreaming of an iPad2, I realize that he has been an integral part of my life for the better part of the last decade and beyond.
In the middle of all the craziness at Mr. Tango and despite my intentions to enjoy the evening at it’s fullest, I suddenly lost all apetite and had to wonder what it was that made me so sad. I would still have access to all the amazing technology that his vision has brought us, I would still be able to walk into an Apple store and marvel at the simple and elegant way in which, thanks to his brilliance, our creativity could be used to connect us to each other and to what we love… And yet, there was a knot in my throat. There was a tug at my heart and I could feel the hint of tears coming to my eyes.
If anything it felt as though a force of nature that had been guiding us… consciously or unconsciously assisting us in connecting and unifying our material experience to mirror our spiritual one had been lost. I felt a bit cheated to wonder at all the amazing inventions that we might be missing out on without his creativity and innovation, without his vision.
As the evening progressed I did my best to enjoy the beautiful dancing performances that we were offered… to admire the passion that they convey and the elegance of their fashion. Yet it wasn’t until the last piece of the night that a connection was made that allowed me somehow to reconcile the experience.
In the end Señor Tango himself (Fernando Soler) with a deep, powerful voice and joined by two impressive female singers dove heart first into a deeply moving rendition of “No llores por mi Argentina” (Don’t cry for me Argentina). For those who may not know, this song is from a highly successful musical called “Evita” which was about Eva Peron who was the wife of one of Argentina’s most loved and remembered Presidents. She was deeply revered by the people of Argentina and was even named “Spiritual Leader of the Nation” by the Argentine Congress. In the nearly sixty years since her passing she has become a powerful symbol in Argentina and even now, her face appears prominently on a large building along Buenos Aires’ famous Nueve de Julio street.
Needless to say, for Argentinian’s the song evokes deep emotions but beyond that, the music and words are so powerful that it is a deeply moving song for anyone who hears it and much more so, if you are in Argentina.
The entire piece was sung with such passion that it alone would have made it a treat, but at the end a half dozen long flags dropped from the ceiling and the patriotism in the room could be felt so deeply and was shared fully by an audience of foreigners from all over the world. I noticed in that moment that we could not help all to be raptured and join, if just for that moment, in celebrating the glory and grandeur of Argentina many of us singing along as best we could
It was one of those experiences that I will never forget… Nothing can describe what it was to witness the power of feeling the passion and pride that one person can have upon a culture, a nation and even a group of foreigners of all ages that were just hoping for a good time more than half a century after she had passed.
And this morning I awoke unable to shake that heavy feeling of the news of Steve passing. The whole day I felt a weight upon me as if something needed to be expressed and while its too early to tell what the impact of his life will be on the generations to come I cannot help but feel that his life, his vision, his inventions have left a print on our lives and on the way we manifest the future far beyond what we may ever be able to acknowledge.
Not long ago I was watching one of his impressive talks at the launch of some product and the thought just came to me… regardless of our view of the world, whether it is all an illusion, or whether it has any meaning whatsoever, life should be lived the way Steve does it. He was not a salesman pitching a product, he was not working to make money or to gain acclaim… he was doing it out of passion and the bliss of that creative spark which in some way reaches out to that which only a true creator can achieve… he was playing with creation… unfolding its potential through his own…
And as my life moves beyond my time as an accidental monk, Steve has served as inspiration as I look to find that space, that way of creating where I can feel as in the moment as he looked on that stage and perhaps play with this adventure called life and find more and more blissful ways of linking the ocean of transcendence that I have found inside with the unpredictable waves of daily life…
So perhaps the best way to say goodbye is to realize that what he represents, that life lived at its full potential… is that part of his legacy that we never have to let go of… that we should not mourn for what is lost but rejoice for the fact that he was here for as long as he was and inspired and enriched our lives by showing us what is possible and facilitating the tools that we may now use to empower our own potential…
Thank you Steve…
Rest in peace Steve Jobs =(