Remember when, nearly two months ago, I posted this photo? The view from my run at Hambidge, a writer’s colony in Georgia?
Rabun Gap, northern Georgia
A few weeks later, a reader sent me this note via e-mail:
“I loved that photo that you sent from North Georgia of a scene from a morning run. That meant a lot to me. A father that I barely knew grew up in that area of Georgia. I felt like I might have been seeing a vista that he saw on a daily basis, but was never able to share with his kids.”
She’d printed out the photo and added it to an album of her father’s memory, she told me.
Critics say blogging is egotistical. Self-involved. Navel-gazing. Maybe it is. But it’s also a way for us to connect with virtual friends, with kindred spirits. The more we share about ourselves, and the more we open doors for readers to relate to us, the more likely we are to connect with a virtual soul who needs us. And just maybe, we’ll make a difference in that person’s day, or month, or, if we’re lucky, earn a spot in their album of memories.
This post says it all. I love the photo and the story and your message is right on. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve learned that as well. The simple, everyday events in our lives don’t mean much to us, but they might strike a chord with others – like your simple view of the Georgia hills. It’s when we can connect our lives with others, that a fellowship rises – in other words, a good blog. Sometimes I touch base like that and other days I miss the mark, but I’m always working on it. Thanks for the post.
Love this, Hope, how you say that everyday events in our lives strike a chord with others. It’s a lot like writing memoir — To hold anyone attention, you have to find meaning in the everyday.
I love the connections I’ve made through blogging, Alexis, and through Dani’s blog book tour class. So many of my blogger friends are writers, so when their books come out, I try to get my library to order a copy and often buy one myself.
Thank you for this post. I, too, value the friends I’ve made through blogging. By holding ourselves out there, we open up to others, sometimes revealing our most fragile parts. This isn’t selfish. It is brave.
Oh wow, what a powerful post!!! And I totally agree. 🙂
Alexis, I’ve also had interesting and touching contact with readers of my blog posts. After I posted on my hiking blog about climbing Black Butte near Mount Shasta in northern California, a woman wrote to me about how her father had climbed Black Butte shortly before his death and how much reaching the summit of Black Butte had meant to him. She has vowed to get into good enough shape to also make the climb.