Two years ago around this time a friend suggested that I write a post describing a bit about myself and why I write this blog. It came about because we had been talking about public relations and marketing and the fact that so many people who write blogs and post on social media are using these platforms to make money and while I don't in any way say that it's a bad thing to do what they are doing, the fact is I am not. At the time my friend suggested I write that post, I seriously thought about it, and actually began to plan a new way of writing this blog for that new year to include some of my own history in some of the posts and to begin to write more about some of the people and places and things that have been a part of my life from the past that might not still be around or air least not in the way they used to be. But then the world as we know it changed and for a time, though I kept writing this blog, with all the uncertainty my posts did begin to reflect the times that we were living in, and sometimes I couldn't write as much in depth as I'd wish because I couldn't visit with people in person, some of the people and places I'd written about in the past I began to do updates on, and I also began to include information about some of the projects I began working on that were part of this new world we were living in. But this week as I started to think about what to write about, this topic came into my mind again, I think in part because I have been having conversations with people about public relations and marketing, about media and advertising, and about how we can know the truth in a world where everyone has an opinion about something and they'll tell you they did their research, and some people will argue and get angry if you question their sources or try to say something even slightly different.
I grew up in a family where asking questions was normal, where critical thinking was encouraged, and where the only facts that we understood were concrete were found in books like a dictionary. My father was an engineer and a scientist, and he was always encouraging us to play word games and math games, to see how numbers and language could be moved around to mean and do new things. In school I belonged to debate clubs, and when I went to college we were encouraged to do work that was outside of the standard boxes and where standardized tests with yes and no and check a, b or c answers didn't really exist. To this day even when I have a very strong opinion about something I try to see someone else's point of view, and though it's sometimes difficult, I try not to judge someone else, or make a decision about something based on my own beliefs or way of living my life. I've come to understand that I can't possibly know everything, and I've also had so much experience with public relations and marketing over the years that I also know how easy it is sway people in a direction of thought. What works for me may not work for someone else, and what they believe may not make sense to me at all, and so to make a judgment without being able to stand in their shoes and live the life they've lived with the experiences they've had is shortsighted at best. Recently I found myself in a conversation with someone who was being very judgemental, and it bothered me so much that for days afterward I couldn't stop thinking about it. And I realized that at the core it's because I personally don't believe that our time should be spent looking at what other people do unless it's to celebrate them.
I write this blog for a number of reasons, which all have to do with encouraging people and helping people to see how important and special their place is in the world, and none of the posts I write are sponsored. I write from my heart, talking about people and places and things I discover or have known about for years. Sometimes people will introduce me to someone or something new or suggest I meet someone or go somewhere, and on occasion I have had people contact me to introduce themselves, but in every case I always make it clear that I'll only write about people, places and things that I genuinely think are doing something excellent. At one point early on someone told me that I should start writing about everyone and everything because they personally liked to read blogs that had information about places they shouldn't go or people who weren't doing great things, but to me that just doesn't make sense. My blog is a place where people can go to read about great people doing great things, and it's a place to read about them and know that what you're reading about is based in my personal experience of someone or something that I cared enough about and had such a high regard for that I chose to take my personal time to write about them.
When I think about the difference I feel when I write about the people and places I write about instead of having negative conversations like the one that bothered me so much lately, it's truly astounding that anyone would bother to take the time to talk about someone else unless they were saying something good. It's not to say that I'm a pollyanna, because I'm definitely not. I have my moments and there are many times that I've been hurt or disappointed or even betrayed. But there is a place and time to talk about our hurts and woes, and dwelling on them does not help us or heal them. If our eyes are looking for reasons to find fault, they will block the beauty and blessings there are and will keep us from receiving them. This blog is a place where the focus is on life and light and all the abundance that is available to us when we open ourselves up to see it.
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