Blog Archives
Where We Meet
It’s a funny thing, this blogging, and it gets my attention how we find each other, and connect, and how it happens in the most unexpected moments. Maybe its finding something that’s been Freshly Pressed, or reading the comments of one kindred blogger that leads you to another. Or someone finds you and it quickly becomes a source of mutual admiration.
At the end of the day, I realize that it’s not so important how we connect, just that we do. And we do, and on some days, it’s something to reckon with.
What I got to thinking about though, is the place where we meet; where we intersect. I think it is safe to say that we each have our own blogging story; what brought us here in the first place, what has kept us here, what propels us to keep going. But where we become the same is when we find like-minded cyber souls who provide this unique place of camaraderie and conversation; when we find voices that inspire and inform us; when we respond to hearts that challenge us to share more of our own. When we connect with spirits that lift us up and make us laugh, or cry, from that place in our core where we know we are understood. We laugh because we relate; it’s the real life Seinfeld moment. It’s funny, or poignant, because what we just read is something that we just KNOW in our bones.
Sometimes, we know it so well, there are no words, at first.
But what about the part that came before?
Someone I know, well, ok, my husband, is one of those people who can walk in, in the middle of a movie or tv show, and start watching for a while. And then suddenly when there is but, oh maybe, ten minutes left, he gets up and walks out. This drives me crazy; I don’t understand this at all. I want the whole story, start to finish. I often want what comes when the story ends; what happens to those people, those characters I just invested in? If I miss any of the dialogue I am lost, I want all the words.
So it is fitting, to me, that I wonder about where we meet.
We are all here for our own unique reasons and in our own unique way. But of those I have ‘met’, there seems to be, at the heart of all this, a resounding exclamation of gratitude, friendship, joy, comfort, laughter, a safe place for our gentle souls. We find each other in our own way, find a voice and a story we recognize and we join the chorus, we dig a little deeper and before we know it, these people are part of our day, part of our story. Thinking about it this way, it surprises me that we are a little surprised when we do connect. I suppose we are just funny like that.
What stuck in my mind is that we connect with each other at various stages along our roads, at different points in our stories and our own discoveries; at different points in finding our own voice. We then move forward from that point on – and I have this crazy image in my head - that we are now each driving one of those ridiculous clown cars, each stuffed with more characters than would seemingly fit. But, they do! My clown car has got some awesome characters and in my car, we keep the radio turned up. Way up. 
We merge and keep moving forward from that point on and our stories become part of the new collective.
But I have to admit, I wonder about what happened back there, earlier on down the road. What I might have missed, the stories that I haven’t heard, the bumps in the road I missed.
If as people in the real world, and we met in person, we would probably share those stories of what came before meeting; we might talk about where we grew up, how we came to be in our careers, big loves and big break ups, stories of sneaking out and bruises to our hearts and egos, maybe about when our children were born, and when our pets came in and out of our lives and about the people who shouldn’t have, but have left us. Whether it was time or not. And the all-important little silly stories that spell out who we truly are.
So, my curiosity comes with a question, an invitation really. Just like our own stories, what we wrote earlier on doesn’t just fade away, it becomes part of what and who we are now, what we share and who we connect with. So, here you are today, cruising along the blogging highway and I say, make a U-turn and take us with you….if there is a post or blog entry that is back at exit 7 and you have new characters who just joined you at exit 63 , leave a comment with a link and share. I’m betting that I am not the only person who likes to see the whole movie.
Twinkle Toes
When my husband and I first started dating, a few moons ago, he took me hiking in his homestate of Arizona. I was intrigued; the mountains in the desert are so different than the rolling hills of California where I grew up. Excited to climb to the top and chatting the whole way; I wasn’t really paying attention to how far up we had gone or exactly how steep it was.
After a picnic lunch, it was time to head back down. My husband started easily down the mountain and I was trailing behind him, calculating every step I took. I was certain that each step I took would result in me performing some fantastic somersault down the mountainside. As much as I hated to, I had to keep asking him to wait, slow down, wait. After what must have felt so painstakingly slow to him, I hear him gently chide me,
“C’mon Twinkle Toes…
We went hiking yesterday, to one of my favorite places on earth where open expanses of granite are punctuated by trees, waterfalls, lakes, boulders and of the course the wide open sky.
Each year, we never know what we will find here, it all depends on how much rain and snow we got the previous winter. Since it was a fairly dry winter last year, the falls that are normally roaring, were just a trickle this summer, giving us an all access pass to this playground nature created.
As we hiked up and down and all around, Twinkle Toes was out in all her glory [I should have a hiking shirt made ..... with Twinkle Toes emblazoned across the front...and why am I only just now thinking of this?].
Even though I am familiar with the trail and the area, I found myself tip-toeing through the terrain, taking my own sweet time.
At each step of the way, I found myself scanning and assessing, searching intently for the best route, for me. My husband is more the hop-to-it hiker, moving swiftly and easily from rock to rock, while I make my moves more intentionally. I want to be sure that where I put my foot will hold steady, will give me the most secure footing. I want to move forward along the trail, not downward! I will often take a slightly longer route to be sure that I will land on solid ground, that I can trust the earth to support me.
In the quiet of the day, I found myself thinking about my twinkle toes in a new light. I realized that how we scamper over the rocks can mimic life in a way; some of us jump right into situations, while others watch, wait and listen; some speak and then think, others hem and haw before a word comes out. Some wear their emotions on their sleeve, others require quiet time to reflect and figure out their feelings. I know that I often feel the need to observe before I engage and need to reflect before I share, but I know that this is not the way for everyone. Sometimes I envy the ways of others, and how they make it look so easy, so swift; and sometimes it’s the other way around. We all have a lot to learn from one another.
Some of us are rock-hopping hikers through life, others among us are twinkle-toes looking ahead to make sure the footing is secure and safe; and I realized that no matter how we make our way along the trail, that even if the ground is wobbly, most of us are strong enough at our core to counterbalance the wobble, and insightful enough to know when to trust ourselves to risk the shaky step or look ahead and find a different route.
The best part? There is no one right way; we all get there in our own time and our own way; hopefully teaching others as we go.
.And does it really matter how we get there, if we find ourselves with companions who wait, slow down and enjoy the rewards along the way?
Happy Hiking!
Yours Truly,
Twinkle Toes
a.k.a
Sunshine Superstars {aka the Sunshine Award}
The other day, I when I logged into WP, I found the sweetest comment from Paula, from Stuff I Tell My Sister, a truly wonderful blog!
CONGRATS to you! I’ve picked you to receive the “SUNSHINE AWARD”.
Thanks for all you do! ♥ paula
Wow!
Paula just made my day, my week. Unbeknownst to her, I was in a bit of a bloggity blog slump…just not feelin’ it for a few days [ever get that...??], feeling more blue than orange and this was the best pick me up. Eveh!
It was the kind of pick me up that comes from connecting with great people who add good stuff into the sphere, give us something meaningful to think about, and somehow inspire us to share our best with others.
Thanks so much Paula for sharing some sunshine over my way!
So now, it’s my turn to follow a few Sunshine Award guidelines:
1. Link the award to the person who gave it to you.
2. Answer the questions that come with it.
3. Pay it forward by nominating several blogs you enjoy by posting a link to their page (on your page) and comment on their blog to let them know they’ve been nominated.
Amazing Bloggers Who Deserve to be Featured…
- True Blog! …Life in Louisiana and all things Woolmerhof
- Mercantile Muse
- PeepThread
- The Bold Abode
- Life Songs of a Busy Mom
- Acute Designs
- Caffeinated by Design
- 20BestTwenty
Answer Ten Questions ::
1. Favorite Color // I love, adore orange!
2. Favorite Animal // Ask me a year ago, and I might have shrugged. Ask me now, and I will say my fur kid Stuart, a rescue Terrier/Poodle mix. Our white fluff of a mutt.
3. Favorite Number // I like 5 – it’s balanced; and 8 - it’s infinite.
4. Favorite Non-Alcoholic Drink // Limeade. Cherry Limeade. Lime Rickey. Did I mention that I love limeade?
5. Facebook or Twitter // both, but for different reasons, but mostly Facebook. I am amazed at the new connections I’ve made with Peeps and Tweeps!
6. My Passion // Reading. Writing. Learning photography. Allowing my creativity to have an important space in my life. Raising a thinking, happy, independent kid; remembering to do the right thing. Even when it’s no fun.
7. Giving or Receiving // Giving, it’s a wonderful way to express myself, show someone that I’ve been paying attention. It’s always fun to get a surprise here and there…
8. Favorite Pattern // I love geometric patterns…stripes, dots, squares, circles, etc. Always have…anybody want to analyze that?
9. Favorite Day of the Week // Friday at 5:30pm…work is done and the potential of a full weekend lies ahead with the promise of sleeping in, time with my family, catching up on creative endeavors, etc.
10. Favorite Flower // Gerbera Daisy…especially in a rich, dark orange! Second would be Black Eyed Susan, Tulips, Ranuculus, Sunflower, Orchid…oh, wait, just one favorite? Not possible!
{ go on now…share some sunshine in your corner of the world! }
smiling,
Hi, My Name Is…
Being new on the blogging scene, I thought it might be fun to share a few details of who is behind the {PaperKeeper}. I realized I haven’t written an ’about’ section here and have been thinking of that and what I might say. For a quick fix, you can learn more here { insert shameless plug }: PaperKeeper is featured on a Room-A-Day Giveway on the blog Two Men and a Mommy by Lindsay – check it out!
So, when I saw this on 74 Lime Lane, who saw it on Her Library Adventures who saw it here and so forth, I thought it was a great way to share a few tid bits. And, in the process, I just found two new {to me} great blogs.
So, if you are reading this, TAG you are it!
Kellie over at 74LimeLane created this amazing photo template and offered it as a download on her blog – with a spot to put your own photo right smack dab in the middle. How great is she? Super generous. You really should check out her zesty blog – beyond it being just fresh and lovely to look at, there are many great, inspiring, beautiful finds over on her lane.
I would love to find out more about you, too. If you decide to do the same, leave a link in the comments so we can get the scoop on you from your own very personalized mathematical equation to your favorite beast who lives in the zoo.
A // Age: 21. Haha! Times two. Plus three.
B // Bed size: Queen
C // Chore that you hate: Just one? Cleaning the bathroom!
D // Dogs: Yes! One loveable one year old 10lb Terrier/Poodle mix that we rescued last summer. Stuart is his name-o. But he has nicknames. Like Houdini. And Cheezit. His official name is Stuart Little Houdini Cheezit. Really. He’s earned each and every syllable of his nick names.
E // Essential start to your day: Check of emails that came in during the sleeping hours. With a quick transition to coffee.
F // Favourite color: Orange/tangerine.
G // Gold or Silver: Silver.
H // Height: 5’ 10”
I // Instruments you play: Does the radio count?
J // Job title: Director of Student Programs/University, Mom, Etsy Shop Owner.
K // Kids: One cool eight year old boy
L // Live: In the grand ol’ USofA on the left coast
M // Mother’s name: sweet lady – she went by Bernice
N // Nicknames: Bon, BonBon, Bonster.
O // Overnight hospital stays: Just once for that cool kiddo. The jello wasn’t half bad.
P // Pet peeve: When someone demonstrates that they have a shortage of personal responsibility. Or common sense.
Q // Quote from a movie: What will tell you more about me than any quote I could relay, is that while I love to watch movies, I can easily forget that I have seen them. Once rented the same movie three times, and forgot each time. I was so bored the third time I saw that movie; there was never a fourth time. And I have no idea why I do this. I remember a book like a best friend.
R // Right or left handed: Right. Except when I broke my right wrist. Then I was left handed for awhile. That didn’t work out so well.
S // Siblings: It’s complicated. But in all honesty, seven.
T // Time you wake up: Weekdays somewhere around 6-6:30; Weekends late as I can get away with; it’s tough to be a night person in a morning person’s world!
U // Underwear: Seriously? Um, underwear.
V // Vegetable you hate: Mushrooms!
W // What makes you run late: Me. I tend to push time to the limits; always trying to use every last possible minute.
X // X-Rays you’ve had: Ankle, wrist, both arms {at the same time!} , sinuses, chest/lungs.
Y // Yummy food that you make: I don’t have one specialty, but my family loves a salad I make that we call Summer Soccer Salad, whole wheat buttermilk donuts on holidays, and always, my favorite, my mom’s secret Gingerbread cookie recipe.
Z // Zoo animal: Monkeys – they just make me smile. They make those funny noises. See, you just smiled. { you look like a monkey….and ya act like one too… }
By the way, I love scrabble, and word games, so this image from 74 Lime Lane was just too great to pass up. Be sure to head on over to visit the Lane and learn about all the coolness going on over there. Wouldn’t it be fun if my cul-de-sac and her lane shared an intersection?
{ go be your wonderful unique self! } & { remember to leave me a link in the comments if you do an A-Z post too! }
