StephenWinbaum
Communications Coordinator
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Jan 6, 2011, 2:33 PM
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January 2011 Newsletter - Time to Meet Up
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By Stephen Winbaum
New Year's Eve. Stuck between two eternities. The past and the future. My usual predicament as a single Boomer (and proud of it!) is to head off to bed by 11:00pm, smug in a satisfaction that the countdown to midnight means nothing to me. Just another tick of the clock - or digital pulse.
On the afternoon of December 31, I felt discontented with my aging attitude. I wanted to drink one last drop from the year. So, I joined an online social network of local groups - Meetup - and searched for a get-together in my Postal Code (Zip Code to Americans!). I ushered in 2011 at the downtown Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, with 8 like-minded people across the adult age spectrum. It was a wonderful event.
Some highlights:
A Native narrator declares a totemic evocation to the tribal deities – earth, ancestral animals, and heavenly bodies. Male drummers in the centre of the community hall pound out a heartbeat, their high, shrieking voices piercing in exaltation. Dancers circle them. Descendants of European settlers – modern Canadians – dance, pound on hand drums, like 21st Century hippies.
Special ceremonial dancers, dressed in regalia of beads and banners, chant, move in the circle of life. Near the end of the night, a man proposes on his knees to his girlfriend, diamond ring in hand. She accepts (whew!). The drummers break out in an engagement song. At midnight, the community circles the drummers, trudges slowly to the heart beat. I join in, one of the dancers.
Online social groups are a tool to tie together the virtual and physical world, maintaining a sense of safety and excitement. They're an alternative to online dating, for Boomers, for all ages.
Stephen Winbaum is the Communications Coordinator of RetirementHomes.com.
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(This post was edited by StephenWinbaum on Jan 10, 2011, 8:59 AM)
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