All writers are faced with challenges with what to write about, and as I approach my blog posting, I am faced with the same. This is a column or blog devoted to musings - and my general approach to writing is to write for an audience, to share good ideas, and to attempt to inspire rational action in the face of what can appear to be overwhelming odds. But to be real, to reveal...well...I'd say best make a date for coffee to do that.
As we probably all have experienced, there's a lot of miscommunication that can occur online. People post quotes that apparently say what they are not willing or quite able to say directly. This creates the conundrum of trying to respond. Do I respond to the quote as if it's what the person is trying to say to me? Or is that off limits? Faced with this recently, I decided that the next level of directness would be a written online response that addressed the person directly. To go from what is implied through a quote to writing directly to the person seems to be the way to address the quote. Asking the question - - Is that what you think? Can you own that quote? - -works on the next level towards clear communication.
We get so much more information from working face to face - but to start there is not always as comfortable as we'd like. So we use our timesaving devices to further communication in efficient and imaginative ways. I suppose when I look at Transition with a capital T and my own path, what I see at present is the challenge of direct communication that continues to communicate my concern for the future of humanity, enthusiasm for this way of "powering down", and desire to humanize our systems of commerce in a way that respects and empathizes with wherever the person I'm communicating with happens to be. This is no small feat for those of us immersed in making a living. And I must admit, I am feeling very impatient, and so I am learning how to forgive myself and others, even though it may appear that nothing is happening on the large scale.
And I guess that's my point....if you can stick with me here for a minute...There are so many ways that we can transition our lives into lives of authenticity and meaning. For me, meaning has always meant making the best use of the resources I have, and learning to work effectively with others. How to fully respect myself and others when that sets me at odds with the place in which I find myself is the challenge. I am encouraging myself to meet the neighbors, to organize neighborhood events through those meetings, and to gently or otherwise introduce the concepts of Transition [that most people feel, yet are not allowing themselves to verbalize - I might venture] in a way that respects where they are. How to create those opportunities for face to face meetings is the challenge.
That's all for now, thanks for listening. I'd love to hear from others - coffee? Herb tea?
Juliet
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