3.5 years of blogging~

And what it's taught me-

*Appearances aren't always what they seem.

*A blog-friend who connects with your heart is as real as your dog or cat.

*You will draw to yourself what you send out into the blogosphere.

*Some people will walk away because you lose your entertainment value.

*I didn't know I had entertainment value.

*Some will love you because of the way you smile.

*Some will take the time to find out if your smile is as real on the inside as it is on the outside, and so have I.

*Some bloggers will call or text.

*Some will give their mailing address.

*Some will send a surprise in the mail.

*Some will invite us into their homes.

*Some will show you a glimpse of their heart- when in day to day life they keep it very concealed.

*Some will lie.

*Some will take your thoughts and feelings hostage.

*Some will give much more in return than you ever invested- because you were honest and real...and those are rare gifts in this day and age.

*Art is created here, in this medium, like none other I've seen.

*Truth is revealed here, in this medium, in ways I've never experienced before.

*Loss- of a blogger's pet, or parent, or spouse...or the death of a blog friend, is as deep and painful as losing anyone in hug-space/meatspace/real life. If you haven't experienced this for yourself, if you stick around, you will.

*Movies your blog friends suggest will stay with you and will always make you think of them.

*Dishes you cook taste better if a blog friend sends you the recipe.

*Cookies you mail are more fun to send to blog friends than I ever dreamed possible.

*I cheer for my blog friends sports teams.

*Bloggers who whine are not fun.

*Bloggers who speak their mind frankly (and don't give a f*ck what others think- hat tip to JL4 and K9) encourage me. Always.

*Bloggers who take the time to write what they learn from a difficult situation, or how to cope with the hard things in life we must endure- are inspirational. Even when they fail.

*Actually, I've learned more from reading about failures in life than I have about winning, or success.

*The real spirit of a blogger will eventually show itself.

*Love in the blogosphere is real, and special, and I wouldn't trade it, or you, for anything the world has to offer.


I love my blog friends. How else would I have ever found any of you?

Things in my part of the world are fine, just busy with the kids going back to school next week. My mom's kidney function is down a little more, but she's in good spirits and I go back to the Kidney specialist with her late next week.

My laptop died in March/April and I finally got a new one- so Yeahhhhhh! Not having one has really stunk- and I'm happy to be all set up in my office again- and slowly restoring links, but it just takes time.

Hugs and be well friends. I'll be around for a visit soon! :)

A New Day~

This is my wish for you:

Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, and Love to complete your life.”

-Author unknown

Transient~

This is a re-post, in honor of a friend...
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Recall with me, for a moment, how it feels to stand before something enormous--
Like the sea, when the beach is empty; or the sky at night full of stars over a quiet plain.

I stand- awestruck- at the vastness that I am trying to comprehend, and yet I know that I can not comprehend it. The enormity of the ocean, or sky, or mountainside, seems to fill up my being- as if these that take up so much space must claim my space as well.

My mind, especially when viewing the ocean, likes to use the word "nothing" to describe it, as in, "nothing but sand and water as far as the eye can see", but of course, it's NOT "nothing". It's actually everything, or everything at the moment. The sea is not empty, nor is the sky, nor are the mountains. And when standing before them they eclipse and absorb me too.

Is this the "something" in our life experience that prepares us for death?
When I think about death and the finality of it I have the same feelings as when I stand before the ocean...It's huge, it's enormous...it will, or can, swallow me.

I ponder death...I peer, though not too closely, because I am not able.
And even if I were able I'm still not sure I would; and what I think I can see is deceiving.
It seems tranquil and quiet, but I strongly suspect otherwise.

What I know of death is the same as what a person knows about the ocean from a photograph...or better still, what they don't know, what they can not see.
The vastness, the depth, all the huge and tiny things swimming just beneath the suface, things that one could never imagine, existing right there under the rippling blue green water.

One of my childhood friends died in 2000, she was 33.

She had battled cancer off and on since she was 12, and finally the treatment caught up with her. She passed into death, and when I saw her--in her casket-- this friend I had loved and laughed with, she was no longer there. What remained was a shell...her spirit was gone. She got caught up in the tide and was swept out, past the surf, past the big waves...way out there...where I can not reach her.

Sometimes I think of her and of all the things we learned together as children...and I wish I knew, or understood, what she knows now.

I stand at the shore and I feel so small. I stand under the midnight sky and I feel so tiny and insignificant...so transient.

Is it work, or family, or love that makes us feel more permanent and less temporary?

Or is it simply that we long for the country of our eternity...which is not here...and we will never feel as though we quite fit in because we are not supposed to?

I understand more this year about death than I ever have- and the one thing I do know is that love is greater than death and I take great comfort in that.

My love is never wasted.

It might be mis-understood, or not needed, or even unwanted...but it's never wasted. What I send out into the world, what I invest in others- comes back to me.

Death can not contain it, or stop it. I know that for certain...and I'm thankful.

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You will be greatly missed JL4