He is only one of many people I never would have met or know of without SparkPeople.
The very fact that I've had over 3,000 blogs posted over there through my 12 years on the site (I only count from when I became truly active in 2009) tells me what a huge part of my life it became. But it wasn't just writing, it was finding those other people.
At first I seemed nearly alone. This blog review project showed once again that at first I was writing a journal "on line" pretty much to myself: no comments. Or one or two. And it was fine, I write them to get my thoughts out of my head and so I don't "eat" my feelings.
But gradually, over those years, I gathered kindred spirits as Spark friends. I still have not met more than a dozen in person, let's see... Mary, Marsha, Laura, Janet, Robert, Kelly, Mako, Deanna, Becky, Susan, Monty and his wife D, Debra (how could I have left you out, after driving extra miles to meet you and Edison?)... if you don't see your name there, I know there are a couple that weren't active to the end of Spark but I met at one time or another... and there are a few that were already friends or family in real life that I dragged over and they formed their own friendships within the Spark "big tent". These connections were and are the real strength of the Spark.
The final day of the blog review (today):
As of yesterday morning, I was looking at 427 blogs to go, or 29 pages (of those little summaries). This morning, it's down to 9 pages, or 133 individual blogs yet to be decided upon. I expect to be done before I retire tonight.
Yesterday's reviewed blogs were a mixed bag... I got through some of the great retirement transition and "decluttering", two re-dos of rooms in the house, the acceptance that I wasn't going to continue to be the hard-charging endurance athlete that at one point I dreamed of. The introduction of Carl to the family (puppy pictures) were also a feature.
It gave me a great kick in the you-know-where to set new goals. It made me realize just how much this pandemic had derailed me! And with the new surge going on in real time while I'm reading about how it started to impact my life, it has offered up some new determination to keep living, with whatever adjustments I have to make. Because life is worth living, even when that living is modified.
Meanwhile, in real life:
Last night there was a massive concert in town: Garth Brooks. We will see whether this feeds the surge or whether the folks who went to it took "enough" precautions (i.e. how many were vaccinated, did they mask up, etc.) It was open air, but it was NOT socially distanced, and the crowd size? The news was saying 90,000.
Up in South Dakota, the Sturgis motorcycle rally has just wrapped up. This is a test... are we doing "enough", as a country, and what is the cost of social interaction? We know there is also a cost to NOT having social interaction! So once again, we are in a risk/benefit analysis.
Halfway around the world, I'm watching the news as Afghanistan is being taken over by the Taliban. As I am the mother of a young man who served in that conflict, and left parts of his health behind, you can imagine the heavy heart it gives me to see the way that conflict is ending. Way too complex a set of feelings to try to articulate; it is going to take the perspective of time to work through them.
This sort of juxtaposition of news cycles with things that affect us personally is not at all unusual. Yet it seems more urgent if you listen to too much news! It is vital that we recognize how to deal with it.
It's important to find facts, not spin. I'm afraid that politicians of all stripes will try to use whatever is in the news to push their own goals. It's hard these days to get "just the facts". Thought and reason must be applied!
We, the little people, have goals, too.
Usually those goals are modest. Let's make sure that we live this one and only Sunday, August 15, 2021 we'll ever get, to:
- Nourish and support our immune system and our health
- Lift our hearts with hope and positive messages.
- Support one another, but maintain the boundaries that allow our own needs to be met. (In case you hadn't noticed, that's a tough balance for many of us!)
Not to be too cynical about it, but having been part of a completely bogus news report in Chicago (about the clinic I worked at), I have a very healthy disrespect for news, especially today when narratives are being woven, lies are being revealed by the narrative creators, then promptly forgotten as the weaving begins again. I agree about doing one's own research, especially when it comes to science and medicine about which there is a surprising lack of real knowledge or consensus, despite the claims of the media otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar reaction to so-called National coverage of some things happening locally here, early on in the pandemic. Direct sources are the best, but you do have to apply some common sense. News media has long (as in hundreds of years) history with trying to influence politics. Think William Randolph Hurst and company. The 24 x 7 news outlets today aren't any better... they are looking to make money... and they do it by dividing us: Fox on one side, MSNBC and CNN on the other.
DeleteBoth have a "germ" of truth at their root, but more spin than fits on a cone of cotton candy. You have to find the germ of truth and verify.
My son once said if he wanted the truth about what was happening on the ground outside of the US, he had to listen to Al Jazeera, not just the US sources. This week's brought that advice into sharp focus.
The thing is, don't swallow ANY of them whole! But don't wholly discount them, either! And that, my friend, is hard work. No wonder we are weary of it!
You're right -- the attempt to clarify what one is hearing, seeing and thinking is a wearisome task. Breaks are needed!!! P.S. I did not see my name in the list of SP people you met, but we did meet in Naples just before your 60th birthday. :)
DeleteYes! We did meet... I corrected to add you (and Edison) to the list. I had also left Monty and DSSECRETS out... that's the problem with "senior memory"... eh? It can be a momentary lapse, but you left out something vital!
Delete💕
Human interaction is vital. Modified. Not sure I'd be ready to join 90,000.
ReplyDeleteOh, and if you find a place that presents facts not spin, please let me know.
Enjoy your Sunday.
If I knew of such a source, I would be tuning it is. As is, I have to switch from one extreme to the other and try to discern and reason for myself. But the evidence of hospital beds full, the testimony of nurses and doctors I know speak louder than any "news" source.
DeleteYeah, that’s a lot to unpack. Rough on your son, for sure. ❤️
ReplyDeleteI like your “little people” goals.🎯
And I agree critical thinking skills are important, right now. It’s valuable to be aware of the limits of one’s knowledge (and training to understand nuanced science), to avoid falling down rabbit holes of speculation and spin.
🧠🔬
Amen. Awareness of limits, and avoidance of rabbit holes... yeah!
DeleteI hear your heart!! I, too, get a knot in my stomach reading about the takeover in Afghanistan. Why oh why!!
ReplyDeleteAnd we are waiting to hear the official tally of those who attended the rally. They have said the numbers exceeded by far what was anticipated. And how many will show up with new infections... Our hospital is already reporting serious increases.
You have really done an amazing work with your blogs/archives!! So many memories!! Tomorrow will be a new done with it all under your belt, so you can do all you intend to do and not feel obligated... Stay strong! We see your strength!
Good luck up there. You should have answers sooner than we will about the concert down here. Generally, one event's results might be predictive of the next one, so I'll be watching for what's reported out of the Sturgis rally, not that it would change what's happening here, but, just to brace ourselves?
DeleteThe spin has always been there. These days of many social network platforms, it just gets out there quicker. It's my thought that it's similar to the "telephone" game we played as kids. My mother used to say, "Don't believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see." More relevant than ever.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a Happy Sunday.
Wise woman, your mother. Mine said the same thing, btw! 😁 Have a peaceful Sunday!
DeleteMy father told me we have 2 ears and 1 mouth, to listen first and then speak!
DeleteA wise father, too! Twice blessed!
DeleteI keep my ears and my heart open and my brain engaged. Trust but verify. I'm saddened by much of the news around the world.
ReplyDeleteWe gave our young people's lives and effort to a country which SHOULD have become independent. Their president has fled as of now. Sad for the women and their freedoms.
This morning's discovery is billions, yes, billions of US dollars are being scammed out of the country in COVID relief funds due to massive identity theft.
I can't solve world problems but I can make my town a better place. I try to make my virtual town a better place.
I'm also saddened to see you use 'Spark regular' in past tense.
We ARE strong women and we will rise!
Yes, I have the feeling the "Spark grieving" is only just beginning.
DeleteNot surprised, but saddened, to see the criminal exploitation of what are intended to be relief funds. Yes, we work on our local/virtual level to leave the place better than we found it.
It seems throughout history women are often both oppressed and survivors! Strong women. Because that's what we must be.
Wow, that is a huge spark streak! I only made it to 500 this last time. Yes the news is disheartening and even more so when the focus is on nonimportant celebrities.
ReplyDeletePraying for the world... btw, it was a link to your blog that went invalid and I had to remove... I think we may have to wait for us all to be stabilized in our blogging to start re-establishing those active links. But it will come!
DeleteI fear critical thinking skills and common sense are rapidly becoming historical relics. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI do have hope, when I look at some of my nieces and nephews. But we do have to teach these skills, generation to generation, if we want them to be there when we most need them!
DeleteAs always you reveal the 'what is happening in your world' yet always leaving us with a positive "spin". That's a spin I can take to the bank. We remain in charge of our own happiness.
ReplyDeleteIndeed we do! Have a peaceful Sunday!
DeleteLife is good! Have a great day. Working on my little people goals 😀💗😘
ReplyDeleteOoh, hugs! Keep working on those little people goals!😍
DeleteYou've made the best of change to renew your own sense of your own goals -- and that's not "little people" that's magnificent!! We are inundated with "news" and it can be overwhelming, especially when it triggers past griefs. But we do better when we take better care of our own health and stay connected with those who are closest to us.
ReplyDeleteAmen! Taking care of our own health first gives us the ability to stay connected and hopefully give a boost to those closest to us. Grass roots, bottom up, little people goals... however you write it, "all politics are local".
DeleteMT-MOONCHASER here, another Spark refugee.
ReplyDeleteI am following your blogs here, just not commenting, although I finally got a comment to post on Lynda's blog today. I figured why not try for 2?
Awesome! Glad you found the way over to the life raft! Success with the second comment... you are on a roll!
DeleteWOW, great progress on your blog reviews. Congrats on getting through them.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Feels good to be DONE! I saved about half of them off to personal storage as PDF's, and I do not know if or when I'll publish any of them, but I suspect even if I don't, they will provide re-packaging material for future blogs, and history for research!
DeleteI'm so happy to follow you. I have enjoyed your blogs since 2012 when I began my Sparkpeople journey. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks. And welcome to the Spark refugee life raft flotilla!
DeleteCongrats on your streak, it is so wonderful we are able to share post SP and have that contact still. Thanks
ReplyDeleteSigh. It's a bittersweet streak, isn't it, now, post-SP? But I am thankful that some of us are continuing contact.
DeleteYes, letting go of SP and all those wonderful connections is wrenching. I totally understand your feelings about pulling out of Afghanistan and the cost to those that served there. DH served in Vietnam DB served in Korea. We keep going despite our history.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent article on Covid. I highly recommend it because it explains the dribbles we have all heard in the news.
An internal CDC document on the leaked in July
How the Delta variant has changed the landscape
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/08/10/nation/welcome-new-pandemic-heres-how-delta-variant-has-changed-landscape/#:~:text=The%20leaked%20CDC%20document%20put%20it%20in%20simple,of%20which%20can%20seemingly%20come%20out%20of%20nowhere%29.
Thanks for the link. I had seen coverage of the article before, but looked a little more closely this time around.
DeleteMy son's father also served in Vietnam, and I tell you, these veterans deserve every consideration we can give them. They are asked to do so many things, in service to a mission, and it's very hard on them.
We annually have a motorcycle rally through town to celebrate Veterans. Gathers thousands of folks from all over the nation.
ReplyDeleteWonder what will happen to out significant increasing COVID numbers.
😲
Who knows? We are a week past Garth's concert now, and I spent a 40 minute drive each way with a friend who "worked" that concert. She's fully vaccinated, and masked when she works the stadium, and she's had a week without any symptoms developing. We both masked for the drive to and from.
DeleteWe won't really know the impact for another couple of weeks.