Whilst perusing the interweb, via Spin Summit, via Alien Jon and via Teafaerie, I stumbled onto an inspiring post by Ronen entitled “this is burning dan“. It’s about Ronen’s relationship with Dan throughout the years, posted just after he found out about Dan’s death. It’s touching, poignant, beautiful, but most of all it’s inspiring. I had only met Dan on two occasions, and while the news saddened me, what hit home was the idea that I wouldn’t be able to spend any more time with him, or delve into his depths of awesometegrity. This article, however, brings to mind a few concepts that have made me realize that I met Dan far before we met, and that I will continue to meet Dan far into the future.
The article focuses on many aspects of their relationship, but for now I’d like to focus on the concept of the afterlife. Ronen muses that man is a demi-god, a being of both flesh and mind. While the flesh my die, ideas survive. And through ideas we are made immortal.
He goes on to state that Dan was, and still is, a Superhero. He gave so much energy, so much of himself and his passion back to the world which inspired others to do the same. And so long as his ideas and his passions exist, he exists.
What we need to do, as a group, is to take the torch that Dan lit, and carry it. Let his superpowers transfer to all of us and become our own superheroes, our own self-recognized demi-gods. In that way Dan lives.
This article may seem a little late to the party, I’m sure, but I find myself straying back to his videos and his pictures, reminiscing. The last time I saw Dan was at Burning Man 2010. Tash and I were wandering through the desert, as one tends to do, making adventures, when we spot a bouncing, giant silver cube, with Dan at the helm. We got in line, and even though we waited for 30 minutes or more, Dan made sure that we got a chance to ride. It was a simple gesture of kindness and patience that made my night.
Here’s the video Ronen made of Dan, on his morning spin in 2009:
BURNING dAN from Ronen on Vimeo.
-Photo (Thumbnail): Sandy Redding under Creative Commons
Creator of GyroPulse and Co-Founder of The Gyronauts. Social Media Manager at Saatchi NY. Loving the Hoop since 2006. Loving the Poi since 2007. Loving the Burn since 2007 More from this author
