THIS IS MY LETTER TO THE WORLD
~Emily Dickinson
This is my letter to the world
That never wrote to me
The simple news that Nature told
With tender majesty
Her message is committed
To hands I cannot see
For love of her,
Sweet countrymen,
Judge tenderly of me
Have you ever had a message you wanted to share with the entire world? Something that if you could, you would climb to the top of a mountain, or sail down a river or take out an ad or scream at the top of your lungs into the wind?
Or hire a Carrier Pigeon.
Or write a book.
Or start a blog.
When I started Life’s Little Inspirations back at our old house, our first little community center before Harry came along and built us this beautiful lighthouse, I didn’t really have a great inspired plan. I just wanted to write. I had been reading some interesting blogs, and came across free wordpress, touched a button and oops-I had a blog. So I wrote a post. There was the amazing Brett who responded only a few moments later and a blogger was born. And we… myself and an amazing number of friends and readers have created this inspiring community of Life’s Little Inspirations that has become something more then I ever would have fathomed could be possible.
This community has changed my life. It has fanned the flames of a dream and a heart’s desire that has re-awaked after thirty one years (and still happily counting) of being both a full-time career woman and mother. Yes- that dream is to be a writer, with all my heart I want that. Yet that alone is not enough.
Coming here to the lighthouse has made me understand why. It’s all very clear at the map. When Harry designed our new place, he installed google analytics, something I had never heard of, didn’t understood and won’t even pretend that I do at this point. But it has this intriguing map that I can’t tear myself away from that tells you where all of your visitors are coming from.
SO…right here and now…to all of you bigger and greater bloggers to which, what I am about to say is a drop in the bucket, and to everyone else…I wouldn’t know if these numbers are good, bad, or ugly…I can only tell you that I…am…overwhelmed. That map has opened my eyes to an amazing reality about the vastness of blogging and the smallness of our world. It has made me think that there are a few things I want to say…
My Letter to the World
Dear World,
WE-our community- has been here for less than a month. In that time, people from fifty-five different countries have been coming here to read and visit the pages of Life’s Little Inspirations.
I had no idea. Were you always there? At the old place too? Did I not fully understand the impact of one little blog, one little voice that- I thought- didn’t have very much to say? Last night, I want you to know that I sat there, at that map, for a very long, long time and I ran my cursor-shaped like an outreached hand-carefully over each and ever country-large and small- and watched as it lit up under the hand. I thought about you. I wondered what your day was like, what your thoughts were, what inspired you, what you wanted most in the world. What is our common ground? What makes you happy? What makes you sad?
I wondered which ones of you comment and those of you who don’t, why are you silent? How much more we could be, and how much more we could do if every voice from every 55 places spoke up, made their opinions count, made their situations more real to us, helped us to understand each other more clearly, bridge the gaps with respect, dignity and honest conversation?
My eyes welled up with tears and your countries became watery and I saw you through a blurry film. I realized that is how we all see each other. Through our own clouded vision. Is there a way to help each other see more clearly? Can we talk? Can we share? You are reading…I really want to know you. I know others here want to know you as well. I am reaching out to you. Will you reach out to me? Tell me about yourself. Tell me what your world is like, what your day is like, what is important to you.
I want to know. Talk to me. Talk to us.
I floated the cursor back onto my own country of America. Even here, the places that readers come from are as diverse and as far reaching in such a large stretch of land that we might as well be divided. How can we become closer? How can we bridge the gaps that divide us? Can we talk?
I thought of the post I had written on the power of words. I believe in it with all my heart. Is it the answer? Can sharing our words in a respectful manner help us to get down to the common core of values from which all love, hope and true change springs forth? Can real change and real peace happen?
I think it can.
I sat there last night staring at the map and thought about the power of bloggers to change the world one reader at a time. To make a difference. To find the common ground. To change hearts through wide open listening and bridging the gaps. The problem isn’t cultural, the problem is not caring enough to put aside our differences and reaching out to find our common ground.
When representatives from 55 countries can meet at a little blog in less than a month of starting up, that tells me that on the big ones there are huge numbers of people meeting from all over the world. I am one little voice. How many blogs are out there talking to how many people all over? What could we do if we tried?
One little thing I am committed to doing is to participate in Blog Action Day 08. I hope you will join me and make a difference in the war on poverty on October 15th. There is still plenty of time to sign up. But it is just a start. It is just one day. Let’s keep talking all 365 days a year too.
Hello world. I want you to know how much I want to hear from you. I want you to know how much I care. Please don’t leave without saying hello! Please share your world with us and tell us about yourself!
Will you please be a part of helping Life’s Little Inspirations Grow? If you enjoy reading these posts, please leave a comment and subscribe, and Digg, Stumble or spread the word any way you can. Thank you very much!
You’ll have to fill me in on Blog Action Day 08!
What a wonderful letter! I am so proud that you have reached so far with your inspiring words. You definitely deserve it, your words are always profound and moving. It’s nice to know you are reaching far beyond what you once thought impossible.
Congrats!
Jenny’s last blog post..Don’t Laugh At…
Wendi, your letter has made me all blurry eyed too. It’s beautiful.
I never knew what kind of friendships I’d make when I started to blog. They still baffle and astonish me.
One of the most important things for me has been learning to see the US differently. Not just as one big land mass, seen through the filter of 1000 stereotypes, TV shows and Hollywood blockbusters. Getting to know real people, in big cities, and small towns. Getting on a suburban train in Chicago and heading out to meet Brad Shorr in the sleepy suburb of Geneva. I never thought I’d do that. He never thought he’d be having a drink and a chat with a friend from Scotland in his local pub!
I think blogging can help us learn from, understand and respect each other more. Even if it’s just one at a time, I do believe, like you, that it makes a difference.
And for me here… it’s the start of autumn, another grey wet wild windy day… mist draped on the green hills, ferries rocking slightly in the rough water, the air so sweet and fresh you feel like you’re breathing freedom itself.
Love and best wishes from the rainy old west coast of Scotland
x
I have also been amazed that people from over 50+ countries have also visited my blog. There has been a post stirring inside me about this topic, but it has yet to be written.
I do have a message I want to share with the entire world! My message is that everyone deserves to balance the demands of being everything to everyone else without losing their sense of self, their needs, and their passions in the process.
Thank you for letting me shout my message to your online world.
Stacey / Create a Balance’s last blog post..9/11 Morning Pages
I’m so with you. When I first started looking at the analytics, I was blown away by the breadth of reach. We are one world, and it is beyond inspiring.
Writer Dad’s last blog post..Deja Vu
“Can sharing our words in a respectful manner help us to get down to the common core of values from which all love, hope and true change springs forth? Can real change and real peace happen?
I think it can.”
Wendi – I *know* it can, with people like you working at it.
And thank you for what you said – and then, remember, you’ve inspired me more than you know.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post..things i learned from sharkboy and lavagirl.
Hello Wendi! Maybe you know this, but I love your blog. I love it because it’s real. It’s honest. And it’s spoken from the heart. And that brings me back time after time. Again, here – I’m thinking about the reach we all have. And that is pretty amazing, isn’t it! We can speak to the world! And the world can communicate back with us. People from all over the world – WOW!
I come here for inspiration Wendi. You provide it in everything you write. You are an amazing woman, with a gift for writing. Continue to share your story with us. I’ll be here listening and learning – from my small corner of the world!
Lance’s last blog post..Fog: Does It Slow You Down?
Wendi,
You have got to be the most sensitive, caring person I’ve ever met!
Don’t ever change who you are.
Friar’s last blog post..Basil the Special Dog (Updated, Part III)
Hi Wendi,
Aren’t blogs and their mapping statistics amazing? We do touch lives and can make a huge difference as we extend our cyberspace hand to help others. To me, that’s the greatest joy of blogging.
When I started blogging I thought I would just write and people would read my words. That, in itself, was pretty powerful. I didn’t give a lot of thoughts to comments, but one by one the comments trickled in and a fire was soon ignited. By answering the comments and following the path back to the visitor’s blog, I began to find friends all over the world. Little by little, through those friends, I met more friends. Soon, a community of like minded people formed.
Now when I write, I know who my audience is. They are wonderful, caring, generous and genuine people from all over the world. We touch each other with our words, and by doing so, we’ve touched each other’s lives. To me, it’s an awesome experience. An experience only a blogger can understand.
Thank you my friend for sharing such a beautiful letter (and blog).
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..You Have The Whole World In Your Hands
Hi Wendi,
thanks for your wonderful post! I have the same feeling – since my English blog has gone up in july I’ve met so many wonderful friends all over the globe! And, as Joanna said, my view on the USA has changed immensely by knowing real people, real persons.
I really like to visit your blog regularly. And I try to comment (which comes not so natural to me as English is not my first language).
So I send you my greetings from Berlin on a cold autumnal morning.
Ulla Hennig’s last blog post..In the Neighbourhood
I realize your blog is about “little inspirations”, but I would argue you are not a little voice, with a little blog, at all. You’ve got something to say and share and you are – that’s not little, nothing little about it. To think and express yourself as you do – that’s big and courageous. None of us are “little” voices. We are voices. We all have some message stirring inside, whether we know it or not. I have a message, and it’s become more clear to me over the past few months. I’m excited to share it. I love reading blogs (like yours) of people with a similar message. It has given me hope that I thought I lost, but like you I believe our words can help.
Thank you and I’m glad to be part of this community.
Stacey Shipman’s last blog post..How do you take care of YOU?
Wendi, I hope the response you have received from this one reponse has filled your heart with so much warmth. As Stacey said, you are not a little blog anymore, you have grown so much and anyone who reads your words has no choice but to be inspired!
I only wish to attain your status among bloggers around the world!
Jenny’s last blog post..Don’t Laugh At…
Hi Wendi – I love the way you wrote that. It’s wonderful that our blogs can be our message to the world isn’t it?
Everywhere I look nowadays, Men With Pens have been busy with their magic designs. They did my blog too.
I’ve already signed up for Blog Action day. It’s a brilliant idea and I hope we can make a difference.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..7 Questions To Ask Before You Launch A Business
hi Wendi, I always say write for yourself, as if you are the audience and then you will attract an audience like you!
Darren Daz Cox’s last blog post..Look for the HOW and you will see the WHY
Hi Cath,
Yea! I’m glad you signed up for Blog Action day. I tried to get the link on this post and it didn’t work. I’m going to have to try again. I don’t know what went wrong! ( I am a techie nightmere)
Yeah, those Pen Men…they get around 🙂
Jenny,
Thanks my wonderful friend, your blogging success is growing, the more you post and the more you get out on all of these wonderful people’s blogs and become part of their communities the more wonderful friends you will meet. I know that already in a few months you are meeting some great people!
Stacey Shipman.
I am really glad you are part of our community as well. And…OK…I will stand corrected 🙂 We Are ALL a voice. Thank you.
Barbara,
You and the community you have created have been such an inspiration from the moment I met you. I can’t even fathom how far reaching your influence has gone by now.
You must be like stars in the sky by now.
Friar,
Awe….are you trying to get me alll blurry-eyed?
Thanks. I’ll just stay me, crazy little me.
Lance,
Gosh…you know I love your blog for the same reason. I think we gravitate towards that type of blog perhaps. Seeking honesty, passion, authenticity.
Those are the blogs I like. Thank you for honoring me by putting me in that catagory.
It does amaze me how we can reach out and touch the world. I hope we always keep that in mind.
Brett,
You are right,
I know it can too. Look at this support. With all of us working together…anything is possible.
Writer Dad,
It is inspiring isn’t it? And you and I are so New at this. Doesn’t it just make you shiver to wonder what the future might hold?
Daz!!!!
You are back!!! Hugs! I hope you had a good move!
You know you gave me that advice in one of my first weeks of blogging Daz, and I wrote it down. I never want to forget it, even if this Blog takes off on a Jet Plane.
And it isn’t that I don’t care about the community because I DO VERY Much. It’s just that I don’t ever want to write posts just to get numbers or stick in pivital words to get googled or write about things that don’t matter to me just to get higher ratings. I write about what touches my heart or that I feel needs to be said as an outreach in the world around me.
Stacey,
Thank you for shouting out your own message to the world here. That touched me very much. Awesome.
Joanna,
I love knowing how it is in Scotland today, how you made that part of the world so real to us. Thank you. I wish I had known you more ahead of time when you came here last year to Chicago, I could have joined you all. I think I met you on-line that same week. NExt time FOR SURE. 🙂
Ulla,
Thank you for saying Hi from Berlin!
I would love it very much of you would subscribe and be a regular commenter. I went to your site just a few minutes ago and realized I had been there before a few weeks ago and cold get the subscribe button to work. Now I learned this week how to add anyone into my google reader I want even if they don’t have their Rss button working so I have just subscribed!. Now I won’t miss any more of your updates.
SO…now we have Scotland, Berlin, Canada, America….are any of you here from anywhere else? Did I miss anything?
Wendi: you are one of the warmest, most genuine people I have met online. That was a beautiful, tender post. I don’t have google analytics but I understand how you feel. It is really amazing to think of people reading us from all over, at different times and different settings, and how connected we can all be. As Tei would say, thank the gods for the internets! 🙂
Seriously, blogging has given me a renewed and welcome sense of community with humankind, which I had lost while working at the local library. Like you, I am so glad for my readers and those who comment. Many have become real friends. Like you.
steph’s last blog post..Thoughts on a Friday Afternoon
Wendi,
I have subscribed your blog and I am a regular reader. Your blog is great! And thanks for subscribing my blog, I hope you’ll enjoy reading it. Must check the rss feed button…
Ulla Hennig’s last blog post..In the Neighbourhood
Wendi,
Just beautiful. The small world we bloggers create from the wide world is so precious, and you voiced that perfectly. I haven’t a thing to add, except that I know how you feel. Warm and fuzzy and grateful.
Blogging (and reading, commenting) is the best thing I ever waited way too long to do. Thanks for this post.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Tip of the Week: SIMPLIFY, Simplify, simplify
I am so glad that you were able to “see” the impact of your reach. You have touched us with your words and your blog is a place that spans cultures, time zones and experiences. Here we can all come and be uplifted, enlightened and filled with joy. As much as you have received my dear Wendi, you have given in abundance!
Wendi,
What a lovely blog. The warmth and caring with which you write truly are inspirational.
To know that our “little blogs” are part of something so much bigger has given me a renewed faith in being part of the community so lovingly described in your words.
Can you bring such sprituality and hope to Katherine? I am very much hoping that you are still interested, and will post something soon. I need to hear how this hurting woman is trying to cope with the losses she has sustained. Please, read a bit about your husband and children. We need a backbone…and I can’t wait to hear her emerge.
Rita
Rita’s last blog post..“The Swanning”
I just registered for Blog Action day.
Thank you.
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post..Hate Mail: Apparently, I’m a Bad Mom
It is wonderful, isn’t it, that our blogs are read by people from places that we hardly know of? I’ve also been amazed that the audience to my site comes mainly from people in the States. I’ve also received emails from far flung countries.
I found out that most people, especially if they are not bloggers, won’t comment. They read your posts though. Oh well….it takes all kinds of people to make the world. The beauty is also found very much found in diversity.
Evelyn Lim’s last blog post..Blessings For Healing
Hi Evelyn,
I have noticed that non-bloggers don’t comment! Including my own family ( Hi family!) Even though I know they are reading. They will say, Oh, I read the blog, that was.. yada yada yada
and I’ll say, “why don’t you write a comment?
Oh….you know…..
I don’t get it.
I WANT TO HEAR FROM EVERYONE!!!!!
I wonder if it is something in the way we have them sign up. I know before I had a blog and I got to the part where it asked for my website, I was like…gee…I don’t have a website…maybe it will kick me out…so I didn’t comment as often.
Vered,
That’s great! I am already thinking about what post I want to write about. The first time I ever really got involved with blogging was at last years Blog Action Day. I wasn’t even a blogger yet but I clicked on a blog and I was amazed at how many blogs were working together for this common goal and that is what first got me exciting about blogging.
Rita,
Thank you for your kind words. I am so excited to have you here. I am also very excited about writing the charactor of Katherine. Thank you for this opportunity! Let’s see what she has to say about herself!
Kelly,
I feel the exact way. I wish I had been a blogger a long time ago. But…then…my kids are the right age now, so timing is everything I guess. I am so glad you are joining us on the swanning!
Karen,
Thank you for such nice words. It makes me feel that we are on the right track at LLI. Thank you for being a part of it. 🙂
Wendi,
You’re glad about The Swanning? Me too, me too. I’m *thrilled.* I’m finding out that some of my blog buddies are astonishingly multifaceted. Your Katherine has me completely hooked!
Re: Nonblogger commenting–I wish I could do a post once a week saying exactly what you did: “I WANT TO HEAR FROM EVERYONE!!!!!”
I get a lot of emails, but it’s not the same. I love it when the comments really did in to some part of a post and enhance it. Email just can’t do that.
Until later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Remember When Transparency Meant, Well…
… dig in…
oops.
Kelly’s last blog post..Remember When Transparency Meant, Well…
Wendi and Kelly,
I had to add my voice to the chorus of wanting to hear from everyone! I just got my best friend to comment on my blog (her first ever blog comment) and I had to write about her, email her, call her to tell her to read the email, lol. I want non-bloggers to actively participate and have been trying to reach out. Liz Strauss has a non-blogger writing a series about this very issue. Very good insights. I may add a permanent page for blog noobs and change my message at the bottom to make sure they know how to comment. If you have tips, please, please share!
Karen,
I love Liz’s non-blogger series. That’s been so interesting to read, trying to think back to before I started, and think about my non-blogger readers now as well.
Yesterday Chris Brogan did a cool article
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/make-it-easier-for-your-audience/
about Vicki Flaugher, who writes SmartWomanGuides
http://smartwomanguides.com/
She’s got a lot of brilliant stuff going on, in part to stay non-blogger friendly. (Check out her brilliant, non-tech-y “post-it.”)
Well worth checking his post and her site out.
Until later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Remember When Transparency Meant, Well…
@ Wendi and Kelly,
Your enthusiasm is shining through in your involvement in both “The Swanning” characters you are writing, and your questions and suggestions on the “project” as a whole. I am grateful to YOU.
Thanks,
Rita
Rita’s last blog post..Prologue: The List
Kelly and Karen,
Yahoo,
On my next post, I have a non-blogger comment ( someone I know speaks up! Thanks Kari!)
I changed my after post comments to include that you don’t have to have a blog to leave a comment, after our discussion just now. I think we forget sometimes that it isn’t that familiar feeling out there to just post a comment if you have never done it before.
I hope this helps to make people feel more welcome. I really, really want to not just be speaking to others bloggers, as much as I love our gang…I want to hear from everyone else too.
Rita,
The Swanning is very exciting! I will have to post something here so that everyone knows what in the world we are talking about!
Change. We need it and yes, we can achieve it. I’m settling back into my routine after a mini-vacation and this post makes me feel like I’m truly home. Not that I didn’t have a blast on my getaway, mind you 😉 I’ve looked at my GA map and had these same feelings and wondered with awe at just how connected we all are – how much we can and do affect each other, especially here on the web. It’s a gift that we should treasure and share and use wisely.
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Behind the Scenes: Writing as a Business
Hi Melissa, Welcome back. Where did you go on your min- break? Somewhere really fun I hope?
I get misty-eyed when I think about how connected we are really.
Just a decade- or less- ago, my world consisted of my county, a small town and the few towns around it, and now I talk to people all over the world.
Remember when we were little and we wanted to have a Pen Pal?
Maybe we all grew up to be bloggers.
Wendi,
My girlfriends from high school go away together for an annual weekend. We rent a house in different places each year. This year it was up in wine country (but all we drank was beer – heheh). I did want a Pen Pal and now I have many! That is definitely the magic of blogging.
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Behind the Scenes: Writing as a Business