This is my personal blog, which is focused on creating peace. Come on in and kick off your shoes! I appreciate feedback and would love your thoughts and comments.
“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Abraham Lincoln
I was a big fan of biographies as a kid, and I liked this Abe Lincoln quote. I used it to motivate myself to take charge of my situation. But what happens when it no longer works?
Since my first post about Veteran’s Day on November 10, 2012, I’ve written 56 posts about many things. There’s a poem or two and a letter to the President of the United States. Some blogs were about global issues, some about national issues, some were about my own little hometown, and some were deeply personal about my family. Well, they’ve all been deeply personal to me, as I only write about things I care deeply about.
My theme is peace, as I believe in creating peace within and spreading it beyond ourselves to the world around us.
I never dreamed that my blog would be reaching this landmark, or that my posts would be read all over the world, but somehow this happened! My posts have been read by people in Israel, Hong Kong, Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia, Germany, France, China, Sweden, Bulgaria, Brazil, Turkey, India, Canada, Poland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and of course my own home, the United States, as well as a few other places. I am humbled that I’ve somehow connected with people I will never know, from around the globe, by the simple act of writing from the heart.
I’ve been working on some personal lessons lately, around asking for help and being willing to receive it. I have spent my life trying not to be vulnerable; now I’m trying to change that. I want to connect with others from a place of honesty and vulnerability, but at times I haven’t been honest with myself about how much I’ve needed others. My blog has been a place where I’ve opened that door a tiny crack.
I was talking with a friend today who said something important. She said that as much as our society values individuality, we will struggle as long as we don’t realize that we are part of a larger collective, the human collective, and the collective of life on this planet. People often fail to see the larger impact of their decisions on others, and sometimes don’t care. We are doomed until we realize that we belong to each other. This logic can apply to COVID precautions, climate change, stopping racial and other injustices, ending hunger, poverty, abuse, or any other suffering.
We are all affected by these things, and many of us know it. Things are shifting.
I feel that writing is how I fit into that collective, and how I can live my best, most meaningful life. Writing helps me to peel back the layers, but more importantly, I feel much more connected to others. I plan to write more, and I hope to be an ambassador for kindness and justice. That’s my tiny role. What’s yours?
I want to thank everyone who’s taken the time to read my ramblings. Maybe you’ve related on some level. Hopefully you’ve felt a little less alone, a little more understood, and cared about. I’m sure you’ll find things you disagree with, and that’s great too. We don’t all have to be in lockstep philosophically or politically to acknowledge and celebrate our humanness or to have compassion and empathy for one another.
I am just very grateful to celebrate this milestone in my life, and to share it with you.
