Welcome to Small Reflections


"Nothing is ever achieved without enthusiasm."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Duck photo source: Lisa's Chaos
I hope you enjoy your visit. If you're looking for something specific, check out the links to posts by category in my sidebar and down a ways. They'll assist with tracking down different types of posts found on each of my three blogs. You might also enjoy checking out the other sites: Sacred Ruminations, Blog Rolls, Bling & Blurbs, and Happily Retired Gal.

I hope you'll look around & leave comments
then visit me at my new blog ...

Giraffe Journal

and/or website ... Labyrinth Journal
both self-hosted at WordPress
where I publish as myself
rather than under a
pseudonym.

I've not had much time for posting or blog visits, but if you're interested I hope you'll find time to check out my new blog, Giraffe Journal or my Labyrinth Journal website ... both self hosted at WordPress.

Thanks for your visit and have a delightful day ;--)
Hugs and blessings,

Monday, November 12, 2007

The only problem with Google Reader or What a Rich Resource!

I love Google Reader (except for the frustrating fact that I now have more that 450 new posts to peruse because I keep finding new & interesting sites to add as I meander through the Web). It's about as bad as my regular MSN email box that often ends up collecting 500 or more emails because I tend to ignore it for long periods of time. There is an option in GR to "mark all posts as read" but that seems to defeat the point, so I choose not to do that ... yet.

Fortunately, GR allows me to organize Blogs into categories so I can easily check out new posts from my Writers Retreat Friends, Virtual Buddies, and a variety of other "categories" I've created to "sort" these blogs into manageable "chunks". The category called "Blogs to Check out Someday" has 460 or so in it currently, but I'm not letting myself feel pressured by that. I try to check out about 10 each day .. but I know there will be rainy days down the line when I'll sit down by the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate ( & perhaps a few cookies) to scan them quickly ... adding some to categories that "fit" and deleting others I won't feel called to keep.

I realize most of you don't have as much "leisure time" as I do ... so this post is my humble attempt to help expand your virtual horizons while saving time and simplifying the discovery process ... though I'm sure as you venture out you'll find things I've not yet discovered, and I hope you'll share in return. Remember I'm a "newbie" to all this ... starting less than a month ago.

In addition to Google Reader, the "rich resource" I wish to write about here is Patti at 37 Days. I'm sure many of you have already discovered her, but she has my head spinning and reminds me of my friends Holly (from the Writer's Retreat) and Elatia (from my EBB training) who are "strategic thinkers" ... from whom ideas simply flow abundantly. What an amazing gift to share so freely.

I've already mentioned the 37 Day Complaint-Free challenge (and a few other ideas) in a post at Sacred Ruminations, but find myself captivated by so many of Patti's ideas. Her post Listen Fully visually & verbally illustrates the point beautifully that I'm sharing here. In it, after sharing the link to Prospero's Book, she quotes that post within her own as I've done here (to spread the word and get folks thinking and talking ... perhaps even making different choices today and tomorrow).

"In his book A Time before Deception, Thomas W. Cooper writes that native peoples around the world have 'specific moral standards for communication.' Those he lists are provocative standards for all of us who speak or write--that is, all of us:
  1. listening fully with the heart, no matter how trivial or wrong the discussion may seem;
  2. not interrupting another's communication;
  3. not walking between conversants;
  4. speaking softly, especially to elders;
  5. speaking only by invitation when among a group of elders;
  6. avoiding slander and defamation of all kinds;
  7. communicating as an individual (contributing independent ideas to the council) first, then communicating in synch with the group (once policies have been set);
  8. truth-telling;
  9. inner communicating (morning and evening sanctification, periods of guidance) must precede outer communicating, openness to the Great Spirit is essential;
  10. communicating with the whole tribe or whole earth in mind so as to honor others."
And adds ...
"I love this. Let's adopt it. Let's make Successories posters of it (or not). More than that, let's just do it."

Like Patti, I'm delighted at the "web-like" ways of this World-Wide Web! The teacher-in-me wants EVERYONE to know, think and talk with others about such rich ideas and possibilities. And so ... this morning, I "touch magic ... and pass it on" hoping others will do likewise.

On Cooper's article I wonder ...
Don't we all deserve such respect? Don't we want our children to learn these practices? To borrow a phrase from Chani's recent Blog Blast for Peace ... "If not now, when?"

If Patti's site isn't enough to capture your imagination and cause YOUR head to spin, check out the following:
-- On Becoming a Tooth Fairy at A Life Outtacontext
-- Lynda and the Alphabet among other things at ELLOUISESTORY
-- see what Lucy's been sharing about Where Spirituality and Creativity Meet where I found links to Abbey of the Arts
-- discover Carla (and her mom's inspiring messages) at zena musings and/or Women at Rest and find links to other bloggers sharing their Sacred Lives, encounter thought provoking posts like Sunrise Sister offers at Mind-Seive and inspirational conversations occuring at Hearth Talks
-- or find Joy's interesting pictures & entertaining life stories at The Joy of Six

You get the idea (and you know why GR is jam-packed with possibilities). Now go explore ... and share your own recommendations as well. It's a community out there! :)

7 comments:

Miss Robyn said...

thanks for visiting! I love discovering new people!

i am constantly amazed at the sharing of wisdom that I find while following links... thankyou for sharing some more to follow...

Joy Des Jardins said...

Thank you for the thoughtful mention...and for your visits and comments. Your site is really looking great. I think you must be a pretty quick study...it already feels like you've been around for a long time.

storyteller said...

miss *r
I appreciate you stopping by and leaving a comment here. I'll be returning to Tales of Tanglewood soon to read more of what you've written ... and I'll be sure to check out "the croning of miss" *R also.

Joy
I'm glad to share things I find interesting (I've been a teacher for a long time and old habits die hard even though I'm happily retired). I appreciate your kind words. I do feel like I'm getting the hang of things in this virtual world with experience, and it helps to have lots of available time to explore and play.
Hugs and blessings,

Kayce aka lucy said...

thanks for including me in your discoveries. i find myself longing to spend more time virtually but will live vicariously through your posts for now :-)

storyteller said...

Relax Lucy,
Remember I'm "happily retired" with lots of time on my hands while my sister and best friends are off traveling in RVs with their husbands. Exploring the Blogosphere "gets me out & about" (virtually speaking) ... though it HAS seriously eaten into my reading time. I've still not started Eat, Pray, Love (nor any of the other "reads" calling currently -- the pile has grown to immense proportions actually) but I will get around to them, I promise.
Hugs and blessings,

Mother of Invention said...

It's a HUGE community! A little overwhelming for me, in fact. You can literally lose hours of your time wandering from connection to a further connection...somewhat like exploring a cave; you're always in danger of getting lost and not finding your way back. Even though I am "retired" too, (actually on a medical LTD until retirement in Nov. 09)I just can't spend as much time as I'd like to on reading, commenting and posting. I hardly read real books at all, which is horrible for a former teacher! I have to go to all kinds of doctor's appointments, make good food, and exercise every day.
Then, realistically, I should be putting my own life's friends first as far as e-mailing etc. and I feel guilty when I spend too much time on blogging.

But, having said all that, I have found the blogging thing rewarding and enlightening. I have had some great feedback on writing and have broadened my knowledge of what other people's lives are like.

Enjoy the experience!

storyteller said...

Thanks M o I
I so relate to everything you wrote here ... except the "guilt". I consciously gave up worry and guilt DECADES ago (though I do experience residual reminders periodically that I take as meditation practice).

I didn't realize you're (sort of) retired too. As for staying connected with folks in my real life, one thing about blogging regularly is that friends & family can check in here to see what I'm up to these days when I ignore my regular email correspondence and/or am not around to answer my phone :)

Like you ... I've found the blogging thing enlightening and have enjoyed the virtual connections. Strange to think that I've not actually been out here (in the Blogosphere) less than a month!

I'm impressed with the quality of some of the writing and creativity I've encountered, and hope I'll eventually find the courage to share MY poetry.

For now I'm still in a playful exploratory mode here! I'm a little more "serious" at Sacred Ruminations, but even there I've composed at the keyboard rather than selecting something to share from my "hand-written" pieces.
Hugs and blessings,

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