Differences

Beautiful day and evening in Washington State

 

Nestled in the majestic low hills of the mountainous region of Seattle, my true devotion can be felt in the most purest sense of the word.  While we all process through life’s many experiences, my personal belief system has matured in my hometown.

Five Steps To Reading Blogs

Your blogger and her family thinking in the rain about my next blog post!

Information is the cornerstone of life. We sometimes take it for granted. The necessity of information flowing seamlessly is sometimes lost as we go about our lives organizing and processing all the data that comes our way.
For myself I enjoy original insights. I am into learning something new and unusual. I get tired of the same old thing. There is nothing so cool as the innovation of information as we discover a new book or a new way of doing something. In fact the element of surprise is always exciting as we are discovering fresh information. Perhaps that is why I gravitate to blogs. Blogging brings originality to a whole new level. Typically the blogger is alone ( in my case) pondering her information to share and then putting it out there for others to enjoy. No one is making the blogger change her words. She is writing with a hipness she can call all her own.
Blogging has brought me new friends. For that I am grateful. I usually take my Mondays to read new material from many of you and ponder your thought processes. It is cool to be in your life-like this. The computer lifts me up and takes me on a rocket ride into each and every one of your homes. Bring it on I say.
This friendship I know is different from normal ones I have. I am sad to say I do not know most of you in real life. Yet I am glad to call you my friend. Recently if you have followed my writings, you know I was sharing on the wonder of friendship ( https://alesiablogs.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/come-now-lets-settle-the-matter/ ) . I have been learning to revitalize and renew my close friendships. It is the same to a lesser degree in blogging friendships that I honor you by reading your blog. So I have thought about the steps of what it means to be a good friend to my close friends, but also our friends in cyberspace. Here are some steps to reconcile each of us to each other. These five steps to reading blogs will surely bring readers to your very own blog! I believe it. Here we go:
1. Think about ways I can reflect on my life through what I learn from you all. It may mean wrapping my mind around things I have never thought about before and even to the point of changing my point of view because I have learned something new.
2. Pay attention to what someone is saying. It is important to listen and show you are intentional. There is nothing worse than someone taking you for granted.
3. Affirm that person. This means with our friends show them grace and love. For my blogging buddies it is important as a blogger to show how important you all have been to my information intake now. I do not rely on just the news or media, but I am looking at the blogging world and saying, “We ROCK and we have good information to share with each other!”
4. Be at Peace and love what you are doing and read blogs that are good and what you want to read about. For your own writing–write what your passion is about. Life is too short to not. Take it from me. I have survived cancer and I am here to tell my story, but I am also hear to read yours. It is what drives me and motivates me to no end.
5. Last but not least is I PRAY for you guys as I PRAY for my close friends I know God has put in my life.

Vulnerabilities

As the old saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. This proverb is as old as time practically and has a connotation of referring that we enjoy safety with others that are like minded.
What about friendship? Do we tend to migrate to those that are similar to us? My husband likes to say I make friends easily. I actually think what he is really saying is I have good communication skills. Part of me says that there is truth in that, but most healthy life long friendships take a very long time to cultivate. They are worth it, but they are risky at times. When you make yourself vulnerable to another, you are saying to that friend that they are worth the investment. Most of these kind of investments will reap you rewards. As a financial friend of mine would say a good friendship will be full of big dividends for a lifetime.
As I have studied the wonder of friendship this past week, I have seen my son lose his best friend. It made me realize how short of time we have on this earth and we better make each moment count. I have of late not been the best of friends and have come to a place that I needed to work on being more honest in my conversations and also reaching out and asking for help.
What I think I have been learning is to accept that the human spirit has flaws , defects, and blemishes. In all reality I was actually identifying these issues in my own person. Now that is heavy.
So today I am relearning a big lesson about myself. I need help and at times this comes straight from the Divine who is our best friend. It is easy to think all we need are good human friendships to share all our problems with. The truth is friendships will suffer if we place too much on our friends to bear. This is for God alone.
In reality healthy friendships will grow and not short circuit when we learn the gift of how friendship shouId really look like. If God forgives us, we should learn to forgive our friends. We should not take our friendships for granted. I love Proverbs 17:9 which reminds us love grows when we choose to forgive, but if we dwell on it the best of friends will become separated.

Nonversations

Pixie Hollow can be where you go to get your pixie dust. Where are you going?

Have you ever been the victim of a nonversation? I have been. Nonversation is defined by the urban dictionary as one person talking and the other person NOT LISTENING. We generation baby boomers are 76 million strong and may be the last group to have known a world without the use of texting, computerizing, and chatting. I am reminded of the comedian Joan Rivers who guest hosted Johnny Carson a number of times in the 1970’s and 80’s who was known for her, “Can we talk?” question usually after she said a risqué joke on his show. Truly can we talk? Why are we not talking? What is happening?
Nonversations are a hindrance as far as I am concerned to genuine communication. Do not get this confused with nonverbal communication. WE all do that when we smile at someone or offer eye contact as a gesture of responsiveness to someone. Nonverbal communication can be destructive also if you roll your eyes at your spouse or a very good friend. These all lend themselves to perceptions. WE all perceive things different especially men versus women.
Today I want to start a series on capturing this very moment and learning about how to deal with being a better communicator. First I want you to know I have been captured by many of you writers/bloggers out there that have touched me in your own way of creating. I see some who use cartoons to make me laugh, others that share breathtaking photography, and of course those as myself trying to make sense of this world around us through writing. I love it all. I am just that kind of person. I want to hear and listen to each person’s viewpoint also.
One of my favorite things I have in my life is a Bible Study I facilitate twice a month. We usually take long breaks between the Christmas holidays and summer time. In ten days we will be back at it with some new materials I have picked up. We will actually be sharing on how to connect better with nature, friendships, resting, forgiveness, and God. I am looking forward to it. I want to have a conversation about all these issues. I have high expectations for myself to learn more. You see I have bought myself some wings and pixie dust a long time ago, but I think I need some new pixie dust. My wings have not flown for some time. Maybe you bloggers have been my pixie dust. I hope in some way my OWN trail of sparkly pixie dust will rub off on you and my “conversation” will enlighten you with breathtaking clarity. Until next time…..to be continued. Photos courtesy of Alesia unless otherwise noted.