Every year, I try to take at least one blog post to thank you, the reader.
So thanks.
First of all, thanks for just being here and reading. The greatest fear of any writer is that their works will go off into the atmosphere without anyone reading them.
Thanks for your commentary. It is always thoughtful, and we have enjoyed some rather good discussions here (and thanks, by the way, for staying within the rules, no politics and no specifically religious discussions. It is so nice to not referee things, as I see on other blogs).
Thanks for spending part of your precious life (because that is what time really is, it is life) with me. We only ever have 24 hours in any day. That you would spend a little with me is deeply honoring.
Thanks for humoring me with what I can only imagine is a rather eclectic mix of subjects. I am the universal grab bag of the unexpected subject.
Thanks especially for this year. It has been a not the easiest of years here (as it has been anywhere, to be fair). Bad review, job change, staying home yet traveling once a month, trying to negotiate a world where I am feeling (more than ever) that I do not fit in.
Most of all, thanks for being my friends. This year I have become more convinced than ever that the Social Internet holds the key to actually creating relationships in a way that Social Media never does. And as (for mostly personal reasons) I have moved away from Social Media, the hole has been filled by you and your comments and your blogs. I speak with you now through posts and comments far more than I speak with most of the Social Media "friends" I have.
Strangely enough, readership is at an all time high - it could be due to The Plague and people stuck inside, or it could be due to spammers (Russia and Ukraine, I am looking at you). That is also due in no part to you - so again, thank you.
It is not the end of the year of course, so we will still have plenty of time to celebrate, complain, theorize, and pontificate before the end of the year. But given the year it has been, I would be foolish to miss the opportunity to thank you today. Now.
So thank you. From the bottom of my heart.
Your Obedient Servant, Toirdhealbheach Beucail
I just discovered your blog a few weeks ago and am really enjoying it. I came across a link on another blog (I don't remember which one). I like your eclectic choices of subject matter and find your posts thought provoking.
ReplyDeleteMaryP - Welcome and thank you so much for the kind words. I am glad I am able to contribute something to your life.
DeleteI like thoughtful people. And you appear to be one. I am at a loss, though, as to why we feel so attached to people we've never seen. I think it may be because we learn about each other. Not through time spent together, but more like an author that we will never meet. We get to know them through their words.
ReplyDeleteThe whole person is in the presence, but the mind of a person is in their words. And the energy they bring is in their spirit. An ordered mind can write well, and get the thoughts across. The spirit can be inferred from the way things are written.
That helped me understand the way God is revealed in the Bible.
God's presence is so holy, no mortal could stand it. We could never be there to have a relationship.
So He took His Words and made them flesh. So we could get to know Him, and He could commune with us. We could hear His mind.
And His Spirit, that brings life to the dirt, energizes us to live as we should, to believe His Words made flesh, to follow Him and understand what He says, to be his ambassadors here in the empire of dead dirt.
It makes sense to me, that we are exercising a bit of faith, based on words we trust are true, to meet each other and visit. Thank you for the forum, and you are most welcome.
Happy Christmas.
STxAR - Thank you for the thoughtful words. I am grateful for the suggestion I am a thoughtful person. I think a lot; time will show whether I am thoughtful or just lost.
DeleteI like words. I like words in English and words in other languages as well. Words well written and spoken are a joy to behold (and read) and I can easily lose hours in translating a work of Old English just to see how they saw the world and delight in their use of words.
In a way, words and blogs have become the conversation of the past. I scarcely speak to anyone on the phone anymore in conversation (either in person or via writing like this). And Social Media is not the sort of thing that encourages us to learn about each other and exchange ideas. For those that do not do social media, comments that are much more than four sentences or a small paragraph are as likely to get ignored as read.
But reading the writing of others - ah, there is the stuff of many a relationship these days. It makes sense to me: in writing, we strip away the outer shell which we present to the world (one of the reasons - among many - I post no pictures of myself; how I look or appear is superfluous to the line of thinking) and pour out our words - "White Hot", as Ray Bradbury wrote - onto the page. Our words hopefully embody what we really believe, untouched by the impressions our outward bodies would give (or as Master Yoda said, "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter).
I think your words about how God approached us are exactly right - remember how the writer of Hebrews notes that we not approaching the Mt. Sinai of the Israelites with the flaming fire and smoke and loud sounds (how terrifying that must have been), but Christ, our high priest and author of our faith.
I am humbled by your thought that I am an ordered mind (I assure you, it does not appear so to myself) and am always grateful for your willingness to share and thoughtful commentary (as are we all - it is the way we all grow). You are more than welcome.
I will echo STxAR.
ReplyDeleteAnd most telling, I read your post, and then I really have to think about my comment.
That process sometimes makes me change my stance on a given subject.
Thank you for the hard work you put into your blog.
John - STxAR, for all of his protestations to the contrary, communicates beautifully.
DeleteWhen I had started writing this blog 15 years ago (and really regularly 11 years ago), I had in my mind that I would be writing some kind of world changing prose that would really shape something. Life is not like that of course (as ever, it is the inexperienced and young at least in mind that believe this will happen ever time), and strangely enough my appearance on the center-lit stage of ideas never came.
But that turned out to be okay, really. What was originally something meant to try to express ideas to influence has really turned into something which allows me to write through my thoughts and thought processes; a sort of on-line journal as it were. What has become immensely helpful - which no journal will ever give one - is the fact that I have real time feedback on my thoughts from individuals who are not me.
The fact that my writing can inspire at least a reconsideration of even a single thing by anyone means that the long ago reason I started has come to fruition - just, like in most things in our lives, not in the manner we had anticipated. So thank you very much for sharing it.
I also have to confess that while I enjoy the act of writing (and in fact, am to the point where not posting something every day is disconcerting to me), I sometimes feel that I am phoning it in. Your words - and the kind words of others - inspire me to work harder in this area.
I suspect if you asked any of us that keep blogs up on a regular basis, they would tell you it is both hard work and not hard work. Hard work in the sense of sometimes struggling to come up with subjects or editing (my eternal bane); not hard work in the sense that the act of writing is pleasurable and not a chore.
By whatever means, I am glad you were able to find your way here. Your comments are always thoughtful and appreciated.
Although I never write my blog for others, but I do enjoy the comments and thoughtful discussions that sometimes takes place in blogger world so it was really nice to stumble upon your blog this year. Your blog is truly a diamond in the rough.
ReplyDeleteEd, as I commented to John above, originally I had thought I was writing this blog for others but really found out over time that I am writing it for myself. The thoughtful discussion that (as you say, sometimes but not always) takes place on the Social Internet is exactly the way it is supposed to work (I feel fairly confident in saying that: it was originally designed by scientists, who want to share information).
DeleteI find it funny that for someone like you and I had been visiting the same blogs and running in the same blog circles for some years before we actually stumbled across each other's blog (Five Acres and A Dream comes to mind, but I bet there are others). Part of the wonder of the InterWeb that restores my hope in it, I suppose: there are still new and interesting things and people to be found.
I am so grateful we were able to finally connect.
I visit a variety of blogs, from the irreverent and profane (Hi, Glen!) to the thoughtful and contemplative, such as yours. This is the good side of the internet - being able to see someone else's viewpoints on things and get an understanding of other interests and hobbies. Thank YOU for putting the work and expense into this interesting endeavor of yours.
ReplyDeleteNM - It is the good side of Social Internet. I wish we had not gotten so far afield with this idea that "Social Media" is more relevant and important.
DeleteThank you for your kind comments as well. To be honest, it is a privilege and a joy to be able to do this.
Thank you for the thoughtful work you put into my blog; one of my favorites to visit!
ReplyDeleteAh ha! Now I know where I found the link! 5 Acres and a Dream is one of the blogs I read all the time.
DeleteThank you very much Leigh! That really makes my day!
DeleteMaryP, Leigh and Dan are two of my favorite people that I have never met.
DeleteI learned of your blog via Glen Filthie blog list (who is hilarious) - I can't comment over there but I sure do appreciate reading his blog as well. Most of my discoveries are links to other bloggers so I do appreciate the time spent listing them on their blogs.
ReplyDeleteI think it is the anonymity of the Internet which creates the environment of wanting to become helpful to others. Then again, some will use anonymity as a way to fling 'poo'. Your blog fortunately does not demonstrate the latter - in fact I often learn a little about myself each time I read it.
So Thank You right back !!
Anonymous - First of all, thank you for stopping in. It is greatly appreciated.
DeleteGlen has, for me, become that crazy Uncle which I always hear about but never had growing up.
I agree that the anonymity of the InterWeb has advantages. Social media has allowed some (many?) to exercise their worst demons.
I appreciate you notice the lack of "flinging" - that said, I do take a modicum of pride in that fact. It is mostly because of the fact that I try to moderate the subjects up front and because, equally frankly (and something I do take great pride it), my readers are actually adults and can conduct themselves as such. In all my years, beyond the usual "spam" comments I have only, ever, had to not publish a single comment because it was just mean-spirited and insulting. Hard discussions we do not mind here; insulting and mean spirited we do.
I hope you take the opportunity to comment more!
You're welcome, and THANK YOU. Having just discovered you, I have all your previous postings to look forward to. Hoorah!
ReplyDelete