@Dona very sorry to hear about Alan’s passing away. It is truly the end of an era. Alan was ‘mr actualism’. Such a cheerleader and enthusiast. My own journey in actualism and actual freedom was tied inextricably with Alan’s in a sense. From reading his lengthy correspondences with Richard, to meeting him in Australia and online, to one my my first PCE’s when we were chatting online years ago - which Alan’s childlike openness and naïveté no doubt catalysed. I think we were having a bit of Scotch at the time, something that both of us shared a love for.
I was always struck by his irrepressible boyish excitement for life and all things actualism - his age didn’t deter him. As a somewhat sombre feeling being, a fair bit younger than him, this was truly inspiring back when we first met in Ballina. And the way he approached his death, intent on being as happy and harmless as he could possibly be even when he had received a grim diagnosis and was having chemo, was quite astonishing. I lost a friend to cancer last year and - although I know it must have been very tough on him at times - the difference in their journeys was marked.
Death comes for us all whether we are actually free or not. It really doesn’t matter ultimately. We are all absorbed into infinitude in the exact same way regardless.
It was Alan’s prompting that got us to eventually move to this platform. I think that his idea of online meetups was a good one and it would be good if we can all meet like he would have wished soon. Childcare commitments and Covid have made me fairly time poor (haha pretty ironic), but I will make the effort if we can work out a suitable time.