Reasons for sharing...and blogging

As I recently said in a group email to my "friends and family" list...because most of us live far apart and dont see each other much, we sometimes lose the ability to communicate and continue growing together. In the "olden days", people used to write real letters (with quality penmenship), go to the post office to buy and lick a stamp, put in a box...and voila'...in 3-7 days the letter was hopefully received by a friend or loved one. Nowadays, it is an easier...and lazier...task to send our thoughts to one another. We have sacrificed our "penmenship" for fast typing skills...and it is typically acceptable not to use caps or proper punctuation when writing emails or blogging. while some of us are hardcore about continuing our use of old fashion grammar and punctuation, it has become acceptible for the sake of time to just type away the words that get our thought and points across in as short a time as possible. to that end we will embrace both formats here for posting your thoughts to this blog. we will not make that an issue here, and instead focus on the mindshare and feelings we want to express here. to that end i am writing this paragraph in both formats...if only to demonstrate solidarity with any school of thought on this. i should add though to some of the younger posters amongst my friends and family that many abbreviations and acronyms are not yet understood by other mature members of our online community. while I know that "brb" means "be right back" and "lol" means "laugh out loud", there are still many newbies to the internet who are not up on this language yet...so i would encourage sensitivity to that reality.

so...come participate with me here. lets be open and mutually accepting of our similarities and differences. the beauty of this exercise is the "dream" that through communication and self revelation...at least to those we know and trust...we can demonstrate and even test our ideas and feelings in the "community". it is a GOOD thing to communicate and be heard. it is a fundamental human need to communicate and share our minds/ideas. unfortunately too many people think no one cares to hear them...or many of us have not learned to take contradiction well. how is it we have grown so insecure as to not want to open our "free" mouths and minds because "someone might not agree with us". sure...we ALL prefer APPROVAL and ACCEPTANCE of our ideas...but if we only communicate and share with those who AGREE with us, we will then be living in a vacuum of thought and rationale. worse yet, we will never be challenged to expand our horizons to consider there may be another way of looking at things. to my mind it is these sensitivities that keeps the masses of the world "in the dark" and fighting enemies they do not understand...because they are unwilling to talk OR listen. part of my quick and early embrace of "the internet" was because i see this medium as a great tool of hope in making information and truth available to ANYONE in the world. this technology breaks down false borders and idealogy boundaries that "statist" powers want to keep in place so they can control the masses. i am personally gratified to see the internet starting to supercede the "bought" mass media as the place for individuals to get real news and perspectives that are open and not commercially tainted. sure...you cant believe everything you see and hear on the internet...not in a book...or by someones lips moving. but at least you can search and "change the channel" by your own volition to try and verify what you are seeing or hearing. this individual liberty and access to information...while sometimes daunting...is also hugely enabling to live our lives free to pursue real truth.

i dont know about you...but some of my most meaningful interpersonal moments have been through resolving huge conflicts via talking and listening. it is always refreshing in life to experience a breakthrough with a friend or even your "significant other" when communicating through a conflict or disagreement. it is amazing what can be accomplished...and how good it feels...when we turn conflict into renewed understanding and acceptance. when we care enough to confront difference and change our own behavior because we now understand how it affects someone we love or care about. these are real breakthroughs in the human experience...and doesnt happen often enough. normally we run from conflict or differences. but until we face them headon...we continue to live with those conflicts and uncertainties.

for a very personal example...i am lucky to now have the most comfortable, secure relationship with a woman i have ever experienced. we are very different from each other in many ways. we have different interests, different strengths and weaknesses, and of course fundamentally we are in trouble...because we are man and woman:). even though we now spend most every day together, work together, play together, etc...there are many things we dont confront UNTIL WE HAVE TO. AND...there are many issues we dont really talk about...but when i share some of my writings with her...she ends up understanding more of where i am coming from as a person and in my mind and the background of events and experiences that have shaped who i am. i think this helps her know better how to relate to me...even in our differences...and we learn to respect our mutual differences of thought or experience. to me this is VERY healthy for both of us...and our future.

sooooo...now you hopefully better understand the intent here...and feel free to share or comment to the extent you are comfortable. Just register for this blog and fire away with me here. i welcome you to the world of my mind...and our mindshare together.

As always...
ED