Connections and Influence

Yesterday I had a weird experience, I got an email from someone telling me that she had read someones blog and that they had linked my blog on theirs. I figured she was wrong because I don't know this person so I hopped on over to that blog and sure enough she mentioned me in her blog and had linked my blog to hers on that post. This is why this experience was weird. First of all she was saying way too nice of things about us and secondly, it was my reaction to reading her post.

I must preface my reaction with an explanation so you don't think I am weird. I blog as a journal. I tell the tale of my life and share my feelings about it. I am not a writer or a photographer which so many bloggers are. I have no talent with crafts, scrapbooking or style ideas. I don't really have anything to offer as far as skills go. This is really just a simple place to say the things I feel about the things I love. When I started I sent the link out to all my family and very close friends so they could keep up with me. Then after a few months some weird things started happening like getting a comment from someone I didn't know. It actually was a good thing and I have made a couple of friends with women I admire that I would never have known without my blog. I suddenly saw a bigger purpose. Before I sound like a recluse who is lonely and on the computer way too much searching for connections I am not!! I am so busy I find it hard to even keep up my friendships with my close friends here.

So what was my extremely weird reaction to this nice persons post.....I cried. I am so embarrassed saying that. It truly makes me sound like a fragile lonely girl and I am really just the opposite. It is even worse because on her post she was talking about our family being pretty and even though that is a huge complement I don't want you to think for one min that I was crying because someone thought we are pretty, it is not important to me. I couldn't figure out why I was crying....It was baffling me. I called my sisters and told them my weird reaction. I wasn't sad, I love this persons blog and felt honored that she felt to talk about our family. I realized last night as my husband came home from a week long trip and we sat and talked for a long time. It is influence. I think I cried because I think I am living a quiet anonymous life but people may be watching and I hope I am good and my influence is positive. I know that I have not in any way influenced this nice woman who talked about me but I suddenly realized what a powerful tool a blog is. Sometimes people we don't know may read and find some comfort, joy, or clarity just simply by how we live our lives. It doesn't have to be any great thing. In a world where there are so many who tear down, devalue and make important things seem less, I love to read blogs of women who are hopeful, confidant, wise and sometimes, if you are lucky really funny. I always love a good belly laugh. If my little on line journal lets just one other person know that they are not alone then how awesome is that.

I can not count the number of times I have come to the decision to make my blog private and then the next day I just kind of don't end up doing it. I know that there are several women who don't know me whose blogs I read that if they made their blogs private I would be very sad. So I continue for now to keep it open and am thankful to be connected and I am thankful to this woman who made me realize that we are all watching and learning from each other and that is a good thing. Here is her blog link of you would like to meet a great writer who has a lot of interesting things to say!