Children see all creatures big and small, human or not, as having feelings, intentions, and some sort of intelligence.
D, our youngest granddaughter, really exemplifies this with pet dogs. She wants to greet each one with a hug and a kiss, as she likes to be greeted by loved ones.
When the granddaughters call, they always ask after our pet, both Gizmo, and now Charlie. They’d often times ask to talk to him on the phone. Each wanted to tell him they loved him.
This behavior extends beyond making pets into playmates, they’ll take anyone as a playmate, now matter how young or old. It’s awesome to see them involving their great-grandpa into reading books and playing board games.When visiting the in-laws, they immediately invite even the littlest baby to play with them.
I’m not sure it’s innocence or naiveté that allows these behaviors. I’d like to think it’s wisdom and acceptance, perhaps two qualities we tend to give up on as we age.
Glenda Watson Hyatt is The One Thumbed Blogger and she’s bringing in the new year with another Accessibility 100 series. Kicking it off, Glenda has a project for us.
I encourage you to give this a try. Glenda shares the rules on her post. Here’s my stab at at.
Accessibility, more than a ramp or wide door, is a thoughtfulness in approaching design, considering people not wheelchairs, souls over boundaries, and vision beyond blindness.
It’s rough but I’m thinking I’m going to be dreaming up more of these.
Social networking isn’t just about Twitter, Facebook, and the like. It’s about being social and actual networking. When’s the last time you actually had an offline conversation with anyone on your network that’s not already a close friend.
I’m giving you a chance to get to know me from another facet. Let’s network offline a wee bit with some personal mail. Postcards.
Above you should be seeing a slide show of the postcards I’ve sent this year. That show will grow as I send more cards out. Yours could be next.
How do you get one? Follow the Postcard link. It’s that simple. Fill in the form and let the magic happen.
This is social networking for the pure joy of it, and for the building of real relationships. It’s not about marketing, it’s not about wealth or power, it’s about you, me and a note or two.
Or how to lose your sanity in 50,000 words or less.
That’s right, I’m going to try this again. What’s this? It’s National Novel Writing Month, and yours truly is setting himself the lofty goal of writing a 50,000 word or more novel by midnight on November 30th.
Other’s have attempted this feat in years past and have succeeded but I’ve yet to complete one. Coming alongside to do this I have a few friends attempting it, but will that be enough. The drama begins today.
As of this writing, I’ve already put down over 1800 words. I’m writing and storing the novel to be in Google Docs. This will make the story accessible from anywhere I need to work on it, and with any computer.
What does this mean to you? It means I’m going to be crazier than usual and you can expect to see excerpts here. You’ll probably be seeing mention of folks you’ve never heard of and things you might not want to think about.
What can you do to help? Read the excerpts. Leave comments. Suggest things to happen in the novel. Want more danger? More sex? More candy? Let me know. Just be encouraging.
For now, it’s off to the races, and fingers to keyboards. Let novel writing begin.
The 25 Words That Connect Us project has wrapped and the final results are out. Liz Strauss has compiled, and combined each submission into a beautiful slide show. The show and final words can be found at Pass It On!. I’ve also embedded it below.
Each of the bloggers contributed their personal take on connections. The key was to put it in a 25 word thought and share it.
From: Honor, Duty, eMail: 7th Annual Holiday Love Project for our Troops: “Each year we send holiday cards to our troops for Christmas and Hanukah. This year’s project starts October 13th and ends December 1st to ensure that all cards and letters can be shipped to meet the holiday deadlines. Mail your holiday cards for our troops to us and we’ll ship them to our military in time for the holidays!”
It’s that time of year again. Time to let those in our lives know we care. Not only those close at home need reminders, but those abroad as well. That includes our military brothers, sisters, fathers, and children.
eMailOurMilitary.com is sponsoring their annual Holiday Love Project. People like you and I, and our families and friends get a chance to directly inspire and support our US Military.
This project has many plusses for the wanting to avoid the usual politics surrounding the troops. It’s about sending cards, letters, banners, posters and more just to say Happy Holidays. It’s a chance to show respect and concern without taking sides on wars and military actions. It’s about people.
I encourage you to take a few minutes out and follow the simple instructions on the eMailOurMilitary site. Just write a short note, a holiday wish, or even some hand drawn art on a postcard or letter. Put that in an a mailer envelope and send it on.
Will you accept my invitation to put 25 words about how we’re connected into a blog post? Here’s how you might go about it.
Think about connections, connectedness, being linked together, synchronicity, serendipity, community, oneness.
Write a sentence about it.
Count the words you have written.
Edit the sentence until you have 25 words exactly.
Notice how your idea changes as you edit and how your feelings change with each rewrite.
Add a picture if you can.
Post your 25 words on your blog by October 16th.
Are you in? Surely you have 25 words to spare for this one.
Have your link here by 1:00a.m. October 17th, 2008 on the clock in the sidebar on this blog. That’s Chicago time.
Well of course Liz! I’ll take that challenge.
Liz brought us a similar project back in July with 25 Words of Work/Life Wisdom. So it’s with excitement that I looked forward to doing this one.
I’m contributing my first two cents here, but can’t wait to see if you’ve got 25 words about connections to share as well. If so, be sure to get them in your blog and share them on Liz’s 25 Words That Connect Us challenge post.
Connections aren’t about how close you can get, how far you travel, or how long you known someone; it’s about reaching across to their heart.
It’s a first impression, and already much refined. But can you just stop at one?
I dare you to share 25 words. And if you aren’t a blogger, then feel free to share them here or on Liz’s comments. Anonymous contributors welcome.
The project above by Liz Strauss is one that sure got folks thinking. What can I say in 25 words that will have meaning and impact? She provided a few great examples and many folks have responded already. The deadline is today though; this is a barely under the wire post.
All said, here’s my take:
No person an island they say. Then why do we work so hard to keep folks on their own islands. Consider inviting them to yours.
Susan Reynolds, one of my favorite online people, shares the story of a great artist networking project. She and several other artists have been part of this project, inspired by the Flat Stanley Books*. I won’t steal her thunder here, but lets just say it involves flat people representations of the artists and a traveling bus.
You might already be one of those artists, or been in a similar project. The project has been extended by reaching out to not just people they’ve met in person or worked with, but to their online contacts. The next artist might be you.
Another great person, Ann, @annOhio to some, is all about social networking online and off. She’s got a brand new blog up dedicated to it. Check it out.
So what social projects are you engaged in? Pen pal? Postcards? Sending flat people cross-country in a bus? Driving or flying there yourself?
*The Flat Stanley Book Series by Jeff Brown has become a huge educational boon, encouraging kids to read, write and think creatively. They send Flat Stanley to other people who take photos of him doing different interesting things. Then Stanley and his photo-journal gets returned to his home base. Flat Stanley has been on every continent and it is entertainingly documented on an ongoing basis.
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*. I won’t steal her thunder here, but lets just say it involves flat people representations of the artists and a traveling bus.
