Friday, April 8, 2011

It's a small, not-so-small world

Village, neighborhood, community. More contained, micro-sized reflections of the wider world, backdrops for the human experience, where we rest, work and live.

Chance connections within the web log universe have produced encounters, meetings with remarkable others, that continue to grow into relationships that are not covered by computer language. If it does not presume too much, I think of them as friendships, they are certainly admirations, and contain a degree of caring that comes from being allowed access to what honest communication reveals.

It was last spring that I began my intentional pilgrimage to meet writers along these paths. Some I have known for nearly a year, others not quite as long, but since we met through our shared ideas - and all that word might describe - we have collectively been through life's joys and sorrows.

In this short time, a one-time reader has become a blog writer with a wide, enthusiastic following; there have been losses - deaths, rejections personal and professional, disappointments; there has been illness discovered and treated, remarkable recovery, remission, slow healing and cyclic medical challenges. There have been births, promotions, romances, creative triumphs, graduations, departures, arrivals. We have lent support, emotional and practical, for fears and flashbacks, crises, uncertainties, bold crusades, diminished faith, times of questions about everything from the stability of our planet to our skills as writers, parents, children, survivors and reasonably intelligent adults.

We each occupy a tiny island, clustered in the great water, close enough to communicate yet separated so that our meetings, our kitchen table talks and tears, are virtual. That in no way dilutes their importance or weakens the ties we have found to each other. Within me is the sense that we are, in whatever realms we occupy, being asked to open and include. We have grown past the time of superficial interaction and are being urged to step up with our whole hearts for those in whose company we have landed. Whether through choice or luck or pure grace, we are no longer strangers, not by coincidence for I don't believe in that. My friend Lisa calls it our tribe, it has been acknowledged as a band, a band of not-entirely itinerant seekers... thinkers and creatives. Humans. Sisters and brothers of the mind and keyboard. A big gang of musketeers, silly and empathetic, not afraid to rush in.

May the gods of mixed metaphors forgive me. May they and their kind show you only favor, hold you, firmly and tenderly, in all your moments, carry you through.

24 comments:

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

You have touched me with the caring words and the affirmation that this place can be full of wonder.

Antares Cryptos said...

My turn to be goosebumped in a good way.
A band of bloggers, creatives, muses and presumed then confirmed friendships. Who knew?

Sultan said...

Well said. The act of forming communities is a life affirming one.

Hannah Stephenson said...

Such a wonderful reminder. I keep thinking about this idea of interconnectedness (has been the theme of life lately).

T. said...

I too have been astounded by the connections we as humans are able to forge in this often-odd technological format. But I'm overwhelmed and grateful for the love I've received -- from you, Marylinn -- and from the rest of our Band of Bloggers.

Yes, friendships. No question of that.

xxoo

Elisabeth said...

Within the many tribes of the blogosphere, across many continents, seas and keyboards, thanks Marylinn for a wonderful post, wonderfully written as ever.

You bring such joy and thoughtfulness with your words.

susan t. landry said...

marylinn, another thoughtful, beautifully paced piece of writing. i so admire how you craft and control language so that it takes us down a carefully landscaped, but never boring, path. and the subject matter, of course, is on all our minds these past few days. the more the big topsy-turvy world feels insecure, chaotic, the more we have come to rely on the stability and caring of this community.

xxoo
susan

Robert the Skeptic said...

It has been a remarkable discovery, this blogging thing - people sharing the most remarkable and intimate of personal stories. I am often greatly moved.

Jayne said...

Ditto! So well expressed, Marylinn (as always).I'm so happy to have found this tribe of which you are a part, virtual though it may be, it still holds the power of community.
And you know you are always welcome in my neighborhood, as well! ;)

Marylinn Kelly said...

KleinsteMotte - I am awed each day as I venture into this community. Wonder, indeed. Thank you.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Antares Cryptos - Who could have guessed? And that may be the best part, the unexpectedness of all that we've found.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Laoch - Thank you...and to see them evolve so organically. It is absolutely life-affirming.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Hannah - Events seem to arise that urge us to see - and act upon - our shared connections. The world becomes wider, the circle grows tighter. So many reminders.

Marylinn Kelly said...

T. - No time to dither...we are called or given the opportunity to reach toward each other. Could any of this have been foreseen? My life is richer for our Band of Bloggers. I am here with whatever I can bring. xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Elisabeth - Thank you for the warm words you left at Denise's blog, for your comments here. Not being limited by geography makes so many seemingly impossible things real. Lost tribes are reunited, what was missing is found. How fortunate we are to be here now.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Susan - Thank you...there was no way I could not speak of these safe houses, the supportive, loving company in which we can be ourselves, as I witness - and experience - such generosity of spirit. The haven we've found in each other's company is what I call miraculous. xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Robert - I, too, am moved, daily, by the honesty and trust I find in this community.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Jayne - So glad you have you as one of our growing band. Thank you, it is as much a community as any I know. And I have stopped by your neighborhood, just a while ago..older post...I have catching up to do.

37paddington said...

Marylinn, thank you for framing in such beautiful language what I have been feeling. What I have found here is a charged and magical circle of souls whose hearts are wide open for one another. The tribe. Wonderful. I am humbled and grateful.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Angella - I, too, feel humbled and grateful and delighted by the wonder of it all. Thank you...are we not blessed to be among such souls as these, to have found one another? xo

Anonymous said...

And we can all ride our donkeys and tilt at windmills...

yes..

Claire Beynon said...

Daily miracles; daily grateful.
Community is all. It is where we meet and have our being. Here we all are. . . daily grateful.
Much love xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Denise - An apt image...do we ride single-file, as I see us? Thinking our thoughts, yet connected as though a pack train with everyone tethered to the next. I believe those are windmills on the horizon. It seems the only way I know how to do it.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Claire - Here we all are and the quiet wonder of it carries me along, grateful to all, grateful to be. xo