Grab a cuppa and a comfy seat, and let’s chat a while! It’s time for Coffee and Conversation!
When I was six, my family was driving on a highway late at night. Streaks of headlights and taillights painted the dark. For the first time, I realized that each car held people living lives as important to them as mine was to me.
I wanted to know what those lives were, and to share my own..
“So, what’s up with that title, anyway?”
I’m so glad you asked I’m pretending you asked, and that I didn’t type that myself, just to introduce this post…
Have you ever been so moved by something you read on social media that you were inspired to respond, at length?
Me, too. I love to read things that spark a deeper conversation. And, well, I’m a writer – and writers are pretty “What if?” people, and we’re comfortable with words. My comments can get pretty involved. And sometimes, in the middle of making one, something in my head pings “what if?”, and I just know…
I’ve got an idea for a blogpost!
I used to just tell myself: “Remember to write about that.” But life goes on; other ideas are born, and, well, most of the time I didn’t remember, or get to it, and the idea got lost.
Then I tried drafting a post in the moment; but that didn’t work much better; I need time for my ideas to build and coalesce, and the rushed efforts never seemed to capture the lightning in the bottle…
A while back, I got the brilliant and belated idea to copy and paste these comments in a file, along with the link of the blogpost that inspired them. I began building the habit of clipping them every time I get that pinging feeling, and adding to the file, where they can grow into something more.
These bits and pieces are on themes I want to explore. They’re a diverse and changing collection of what has piqued my interest, and inspired me.
From time to time, I’ll take one of these comments, link back to the post that inspired it, and play. There might be other links, ideas, images, impressions – not so much “This is what I believe” as “What if?”
And then, I’m inviting you to chime in, with anything you’re moved to say or share. I want to know what you think and feel and believe and sense. I want to eat your brains peek inside your mind- by playing a weird type of word and idea association with you!
So, are you ready to play? All right! Away we go….!
From September, 2014 on Julie Glover:
Blogging: What’s Your Point?, with my comment in toto:
I started blogging to deal with the raw grief I was processing after the death of our second baby, and came back to that blog six years later, as we were starting to get the hang of radical unschooling.
My first blog posts were mostly ignored, but I wrote them for myself, and didn’t really want interaction, at that point. The unschooling posts sparked some comments and interest, mostly from other unschoolers I knew online. Posts were shared a time or two, and there were a sprinkling of comments from people I didn’t know – that was cool, and made me feel a little like a writer – and also paralyzed me with fear.
My words, and my thoughts, were out in the world, and people were responding to them. It made me self-conscious and unsure, and I found myself trying to maintain a certain ‘image’ with my blogging – and that was exhausting.
I’ve relaxed since then. I’ve diversified, and now I look at this blog as what the tagline says – “Lovely Chaos”.
It’s my farmers’ market in the virtual world, filled with things that interest me, things I’m passionate about. It’s where I share bits of my fiction and poetry, and other things I discover along the way. There’s parenting, memories, social issues, unschooling and Star Trek. I like sharing pictures and stories from my life, and my adventures striving for my goals…
I’m after a conversation, and a peek into other’s lives, because that’s always mattered to me. I want connection, expansion, and understanding. I want to keep challenging myself to offer things that inspire, stir the pot for others, entertain, and maybe even enlighten…
And I want to do all that while having fun, and in a positive, respectful way.
By carrying my blog over into all the things that matter to me, I’m offering something that goes beyond writing for other writers, or even those who might call themselves readers. I have things for unschoolers, parents, and Trekkies. I have local attractions, and deep feelings…I have the things that, when woven together, make my life.
I don’t know if that’s exactly a ‘social platform’. I do know that I love what I’ve created on my blog, that I’m having fun, and that I’m connecting with amazing people – and that that’s what I want to do! So, whatever else it is, it’s a success, to me.
What about you? Do you blog? Keep a journal? Create art? Share your words or images online? Why do you, and what do you feel, when you do it? What have you gained from it?
I’ll pour the beverages; why not show us what you’ve got to share?
Images and ideas…won’t you share yours?
