Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Dear Unknown,

I decided I was going to write this Blog a few months ago; and even if no one read it, or reacted to it, it would be a good thing to do. I felt that way because, as I've said before, it's a way to give my brain a little exercise and just possibly entice people to think some different thoughts or at least do more thinking. Of course, I've wondered from time to time if anybody out there in the cyber-world of the Internet actually reads these small efforts of mine. It's not a make or break proposition for me, but you can understand how I might be curious.

It turns out that Blogger keeps track of that for me. I was surprised and delighted to see that I've had almost 600 "pageviews" on this Blog since I began this venture. I'll admit that some of the stuff I write can be a bit trying because of the political themes I gravitate towards, and because I don't do a brief paragraph or two. But I've made a few efforts to interject some thoughts about my personal life experiences too. The most recent of those (more personal) efforts was called "It Starts with Your Eyes" (June 28, 2011) In that article I was moved to write about the prospect of aging and how I am attempting to fashion a point of view that doesn't focus on what we lose, but how important it is to stay focused on the future. This particular article was in response to a cousin of mine who had just suffered a major heart problem. She's still recovering nicely, by the way. But I think we should use our experiences, and the experiences of others to give us pause to think, be forward leaning- and not just go through life looking in the rear-view mirror.

It is not often that I look back on the articles I've written, but I did last week. In doing so, I saw I had a very nice  response to the article I just mentioned. I don't know who wrote it. It was obvious to me, though, that it wasn't someone I know. It didn't come from the Facebook folks- it was just a response from someone who read what I wrote and shared a little bit of their life with me, in return. It came from "Unknown".

This was very touching for several reasons. First, it was just good to know that someone is reading what I write. This response let me know that people do care what goes on in the world and in each others lives, even if we don't know each other. I like that. That kind of connection is heartening and touched me personally. Secondly, the feedback caused me to look into the Blogger stats to see that I have had many more pageviews than I ever imagined, and they come from different parts of the country and two countries in Europe. I don't say this to boast- but to say I felt humbled by the notion that people will use this medium to share thoughts. And, I'm grateful to be a part of it.  I appreciated the encouragement in the  response, and it made me wish I knew more about "Unknown".

Our world is a busy place full of new ways to share our lives and our world with those around us. Some might say, too busy, with too much information (and noise) fired in our direction all the time. But I can tell you this, when I saw that response from "Unknown", it made my day! I realized we all need better connections to one another- connections that express a simple kindness, or just the idea that we are all here together, doing our best to navigate this fascinating life we have.

Thanks for looking in- and thank you Dear Unknown.

1 comment:

  1. I think in a world filled with white noise a sincere "thanks for listening" is really touching.

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