Update.....

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Thanks to those who wrote and asked where I've disappeared.

I am still on dial-up and can't see most of your sites because of the slow page loads. That means I can't comment. Some sites, I can't even read. That takes away half the pleasure of blogging because it's the interaction that makes it meaningful. The back and forth of commenting and sharing with each other is what makes this worthwhile. Without that element, it doesn't hold much interest for me at all.

Supposedly, my Linksys will be fixed on 12/24. When that occurs, I'll be back to commenting, reading and writing.

For those who celebrate, I hope you have a good holiday. For those who don't, I hope you have a relaxing week.


Peace,


~Chani

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Cozy...

I may be a bit scarce around here over the next few weeks.

There's nothing wrong and I don't have anything negative in my life at all. Sometimes I just find it worthwhile to escape the saturation of the holiday season. It is my time to read books, watch movies, keep up on my private email (which, of course, I welcome), get my sewing done (I have a pile), putter around and occupy myself in renewing and refreshing ways while others are doing the Christmas thing.

I may not be as present in commenting for a while. One thing I want to be clear about though is that it is only temporary. I am not bailing. All of you are still valued in my little corner of the universe. Unfortunately, I have exhausted my repertoire of holiday-centered thoughts or comments. The well has run dry.

I will be back to commenting, too, as soon as it's over. I might still pipe in on non-holiday-related messages.

I'll still be reading all the blogs in my reader though. I will smile when I read of your happiness and cringe when something doesn't go as you'd planned. I wish you all the best of the season and rejoice in your celebration.

See you all soon.... and, please, be at peace. Celebrate well and let it fill your soul like warm flowing honey!

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NaBloPoMo...

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I am currently re-evaluating whether to participate in NoBloPoMo. I spent a few hours yesterday and this morning randomly rambling through the Randomiser. It seems to recycle the same twenty blogs or so.

At the risk of sounding alienating, which is not my intent, the content of those blogs simply didn't speak to me at all. It's the same old thing. I don't live a mainstream life dominated by household concerns. And unfortunately most people like me do not blog.

(Clarification: I am not meaning to imply that everyone should think like me or be like me. What I'm saying is that I'm finding very little diversity in terms of lifestyle or ideology. )

I couldn't bring myself to comment. It wasn't lack of desire. I'm big on commenting. When people write, they want to be heard. I get that. Totally. I feel the same way. I suspect most of us write because we want to connect with others. Otherwise, it becomes little more than m@sturbating in public.

At the same time, my fingers froze over the keyboard. What could I say? Moreover, what could I say that would be honest, authentic and legitimate? How can I say something that won't sound canned?

I can imagine they will have the same response to me. They'll want to say something. That's the spirit of this, after all. NaBloPoMo is all about making new connections.

Yet their fingers will freeze over their keyboards, too.

How do we relate to someone who lives such a radically different life that there is barely a string to connect us beyond the fact that we are both bipedal and presumably eat and eliminate? I'm really feeling defeated by this right now.

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It All Matters - Because It Just Does!

A few more thoughts on the "How We Matter" discussion going on at Using My Words.

Yesterday, I put out a rather vague post about a condition in my life that was causing me anxiety.

And a few dozen people ('a few dozen' is a lot of people!) came by here and left very kind comments. One of them made me cry ~ and I don't typically cry.

This may not seem like a big thing. Commenting on blogs. We all do it. We go from one site to another, sprinkle the sites with our thoughts, our encouragement or our opinions.

And it matters - because it just does. Because there is someone sitting on the other end of the screen who is reading them. If they make someone smile, make someone think, make someone look at something a little differently or if they encourage someone by validating their own view of something, that is value.

Western culture weighs and measures too much. For a long time, I got trapped in that, too. Concerned about whether or not my blog, my writing, my opinions, my very personhood measured up to what I saw around me. Interesting hierarchy, that. Up. Down. Lower. Higher. All with an intrinsic value attached.. a measurement.

What I finally concluded is that we can never know how much an action might matter to someone else. The only solution is to walk along our path, sprinkling a few rose petals where we can and let it go.

And I thank all of you for the rose petals you sprinkled here yesterday ~ and sprinkle here daily. It matters. To me.

Palms together (ไหว้) to all of you.

กอดกับรัก (May you be well and happy.)
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