The people I admire the most on Multiply are so "out there." Each of you is different from me, and yet each of you hold an attraction to my soul.
It's a blog I read tonight that made me sad. This one: http://lindao6.multiply.com/journal/item/523/We_Need_Each_Other._._._
Because we ought to be connected, I want to be connected, I imagine myself connected, maybe I am connected, but I don't FEEL connected.
And some of you feel smothered by your connectedness.
And I'm a great listener, advice-giver, someone who knows how to find "the quiet center." And yet, there is not a soul that I would trust with mine. Not really. ...
That was a great blog on Linda's page, and I really like what I know of Linda, and I wanted to leave a comment. But I was too dang sad. Because my roots don't seem to intertwine, although I try to tangle them. They've just been chopped too many times!
My parents moved us around every time I got my bearings when I was growing up.
The first man I married was never contented with a blasted thing in life, and he kept changing everything constantly. On top of which, he rather wanted to be a hermit.
Church connections are supposed to be good ones, but to really be connected at a particular congregation (any of them) you're supposed to bad-mouth the ones that aren't your kind. I worship, and have raised my youngest son, where the liturgy and the sermons do me the most good. And he's connected there, having gone to parochial school there "all his life," but I don't really fit.
I'm a church secretary at a different kind of church. I don't want to worship there. They don't meet my deepest needs as "my own" church does. But they are "inclusive" almost to a fault, and I need that.
The friends I've chosen on Multiply (and those who've chosen me) are extremely diverse, from down-home Baptist to Catholic to Pagan or Agnostic ... and I guess that if truth be told, I am a little bit of all those things myself. (I'm a Lutheran, if you want to know -- Missouri Synod -- with a few unfortunate Baptist and Jewish tendencies, and the occasional respectful irreverence and willingness to dance at the winter solstice.)
Some of my friends are way more sensual than I'd ever care to be. Some are searching for meaning in life, some are just trying to hold their grip, and some think they've got it all figured out. Some could care less.
The friends here that I admire most are those who have an opinion -- their own point of view. Whether they bitch about their mother-in-law, or gripe about bad weather, or try to make everything funny, or just tool around posting glitter graphics, or try to capture the most exquisite moment in words or photography. Whether they flaunt their intelligence, or only their silliness.
I am a little bit like all of you ... and nothing like any of you. And I do not share myself completely with anyone but God. So if He does not exist, then apparently I do not share myself completely with anyone but myself.
"My own counsel will I keep." -- Yoda, from one of the Star Wars movies.
But damn, I sure do wish I really felt as connected, rooted, and intertwined, as my head believes we all are. Because in my thought life, with my reason, from my world-view, I am convinced of the truth of the blog that set me tip-toeing through melancholy tonight. I honestly think that, believe it or not, even when we don't speak the same language, we are ALL connected, in the eternal sense of things.
There. That's as close to revealing as I am able to be. For what it's worth.
For what it's worth!
ReplyDelete*L* "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together." ~the Beatles ;-)
ReplyDeleteyou got it, shoo doop dee doo. grin. Be sure to check the song I posted for you: "Bobby Jean" by Springsteen.
ReplyDelete(How'd I know you'd still be up??)
I read Linda's blog....I understand that connectedness. It reminds me of the times I've gotten ready to plant something and decided to divide it. All the roots are so interconnected, it makes me a little sad to pull them apart. And I feel that human relationships can be the same way. You are connected in so many ways, that if you are separated, whether by death or divorce or just distance, you have all those roots that have been torn away, and that is a very painful thing.
ReplyDeleteWe are all interconnected. Some day when you find that still center, you will feel it. You know, part of what brought me back to Multiply was your persistence. See? Sometimes you don't even know about a connection you've made.
*hugs* Not sure how much help I can be right now, kinda doing my own struggle at the moment, but I can hear you reaching out, and I want you to know you're not alone.
ReplyDeleteWe all need some level of connection, even loners like me. We all need to 'belong' somewhere, even if those on the outside looking in can't really see it. And we all need to know we have our place.
I find it hard to open up my deepest self, preferring instead to blog soapbox issues that affect a wider audience. I have a very small group that I open up deeper to, and even then I'm feeling my way, toes outstretched at each step, like a child who is learning to trust their legs to walk.
Maybe we can help each other? Maybe the two of us, shy and reserved as we are, can build a bridge?
I don't trust easily,and my loyalty must be earned ... but once you have my trust and loyalty, nothing short of direct betrayal will shake it.
Aw, Kira! Thank you for telling me that!! Thank you!
ReplyDeletei dont feel alone but I do feel connected as in these profile sites I have four of them...that is enough connecting for me...I am quite happy actually. I have a husband, a large family of relatives and a daughter and her familly and it all works out just so. I really like to be alone part of the time.Prefer not to be connected too much. Not shy and not needing to confide much, have been through a lot of experiences so far. I hope you find what you need and why you feel the way you do. Oh I dont belong to a church either. Just wish you well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Shirgy. I like to be alone, too ... and I much prefer alone to large groups ... except for when my family is together and I fit in a comfortable role. But even so ...
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, dear soul, and I wish you well.
Sent you a PM, kittychile. Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteWe all are different in one way or another and we are supposed to be. That's what gives each of us our own style, our own design, our own road to walk in life. Before we first met, Rani, we were complete strangers, and truth be known, were it not for here, we still would be.Yet fate or luck, take your pick, stepped in and changed that.Those two things change all of us in one way or another, and somewhere down the highway of life, we forge some type of bond, some inkling of a base commonality, and in the midst of this, a friendship is formed.
ReplyDeleteI've often said that "... friends are friends, no matter what, no matter where". Tis something i will always abide by. People have issues, health problems, money problems, relationship problems, and problems with problems, but here, they tell us, and they look for help, or just a set of eyes to read and silently listen. They put their trust in us to maybe help them in some way or another. Kick is, we do what we do here because it's who each of us are.
Me? I write. I get a great satisfaction from it, and enjoy the fact that others like what I do, and can find that bond with my words that set off a reaction within themselves to maybe question themselves or see themselves within the words.
You mentioned you like to be alone, and I find that perfectly alright. Being alone is far better than being lonely. Lonely allows too many negative thoughts to bring one down. Alone allows you to think and breathe without condemnation by anyone other than yourself, and thats okay.
As to churches, mine is within the body I wear. oh, I've done the Methodist, the Lutheran, Baptist thing, but getting to the matter of fact, I live my religious beliefs my own way, and figure when my day of judgement comes up, I'll know then if I did good or not. Right now, I feel I have.
There isn't anything wrong with the way you feel. It's an honest reaction/emotion. Those that know you here, that are connected with you, will understand to a degree.
This whole thing is like a mouse maze. We turn left, turn right, zig and zag to find the final opening to see daylight and breathe a sigh of relief we found our way clear. From there, new days, different moments will arrive and we just keep going on.
Bottom line to all this: All we want is to be accepted for who we are as person, the individual, and not for what we do, but if what we do, helps someone else along the road, then our being here has been well worth the journey.
First, I want to thank you, Rani... I was so excited when we first connected and couldn't wait to get to know you better... but between family, work and what was going on in my life I became so much less
ReplyDeletesocial on here. Several times when I would sign on and see messages and comments real quick, I wanted to make the time to come and visit and read through your past blogs (still want to do that) but it just didn't happen. By the way, your visits always make a smile. And now, thank you, I have a little glimpse of who Rani is and it is not wonder I think you are a nice person.
I have two sisters.. both very wonderful... both different as night and day.... couldn't love either on of them any more than I do!!!! Don't think I could be connected to either one of them more than I am... One is a loner, quiet, to herself, very private... the other a social butterfly, out going and very sharing... and like I said both very wonderful in their own way! We are who we are! That is the beauty of each person..
One of your friends made the comment you are connected more than you think. I agree. And I think that those you are connected to just admire and respect your privacy. I know I do now and I am so glad that our life paths have crossed here on Multiply... would be proud to have them cross in the world too!
By the way... this is coming from your born in the Methodist Church, married into the Baptist Church, converted to the Catholic Church, admire the Episcopalian Church friend.... I, too, just believe and it is not under just one set of religious belief's... I think the best set of rules to follow is the ones that come from love in your heart.... It seem to know instinctively
A good friend who has commented here led me to this page Rani and I find it of interest that the liturgy and perhaps the music of the Lutheran Church appeals to my inner being, though I do not agree with all of the doctrine found there. My church of many years was the LCA and it is more liberal than the Missouri Synod, but still it is the pastor who leads the flock and it is sometimes difficult to connect to one of thes men. I have found more connection here than I have found in the real world, and though I do not usuallly share my private life, I find myself understanding and sympathising with those who do. I do not presently attend or belong to any religious affilliation but tonight thought of attending a Midnight Candlelight Service at the Lutheran Church near my home. There was once a connectedness that I found there....perhaps I will find it again.
ReplyDeleteQUITE a LOAD 2 DIGEST in ONE SITTING, BUT it CAN BE SURMISED & CONDENSED into A PALPABLE ARRAY of ALL the PORTIOND THAT ARE CALLED "LIFE". EACH of US ARE BY CIRCUMSTANCES, EXPERIENCES & SITUATIONS UNIQUE,,YET in THE VAST SCHEM of THINGS, WE ARE THE SAME.WE ALL WANT & NEED WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO US. SATISFACTION of ATTAINMENT, LOVE FOR WHO WE ARE & ACCEPTANCE FOR WHO & WHAT WE AREN'T. WE'RE ALL SEARCHERS, GATHERERS, SEEKERS of A BIGGER MEANING BEHIND IT ALL. WE ALL DOUBT, QUESTION & DISAPPOINT. WE'RE ALL STUDENTS & WE'RE ALL CHILDREN. WE FAIL & WE ALL COME UP SHORT. SO NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT OBTAINING PERFECTION! WE SIMPLY DO OUR BEST & MOVE AHEAD. AND IF a FELLOW TRAVELER NEEDS a HAND, WE EXTEND THE HAND OF EXPERIENCE. WE TAKE STANDS FOR WHAT WE'VE BEEN TAUGHT WERE RIGHTEOUS GOALS. THERE IS BUT ONE GOAL 2 OBTAIN, YET THERE ARE SO MANY PATHS. LOOKING AHEAD WITH OUR HEART'S EYE, WE CAN BE ASSURED THAT EVEN if DETOURED or SIDETRACKED, GRACE WILL DELIVER OUR EVENTUAL DESTINATION. I WASN'T RAISED IN THE CHURCH, ALTHO BAPTISED QUITE YOUNG, a METHODIST, NOT KNOWING or FORGETTING EXACTLY WHY or WHAT FOR. ONLY MANY YEARS LATER 2 BE BAPTISED WITH KNOWLEDGE INTO THE "CHURCH of CHRIST". NON-DENOMINATIONAL & MORE OF a SIMPLE DOCTRINE, BY THE WORD ONLY. I'M CONFIDENT THAT WE WOULDN'T BE GIVEN SOMETHING THAT COULDN'T BE FOLLOWED or UNDERSTOOD. WHAT KIND of JOKE WOULD THAT BE, YET WE CAN KNOW THAT WE ARE SAVED! WHAT WE DO HEAR IS UP TO US, OUR GIFTS, TALENTS & UNDERSTANDINGS. THERE IS ONE BODY, YET THINK of ALL THE INTRICATE COMPONANTS AT WORK? THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT ARE ESSENTUAL TO LIFE, SOME SEEMINGLY UNIMPORTANT,,YET ALL WERE INTELLIGENTLY PLACED THERE BY OUR CREATOR. .........YOU STATED THAT I WAS MORE THAN YOU CAN TAKE,,IN WHAT WAY? I'M NO DIFFERENT THAN YOU. WE'RE ALL COMPRISED of MANY MOODS, MANY EMOTIONS. AND IN A SENSE, WE'RE "DIFFERENT" ON THE OUTSIDE AS WELL AS THE INSIDE EVERY DAY, DEPENDING UPON WHAT EXPERIENCES & SITUATIONS THAT BEFALL US. I'M NOT ALWAYS IN THE BEST of MOODS, BUT I'M FAR FROM ALWAYS in THE WORST OF THEM EITHER. I DON'T BROADCAST MYSELF. I'M MAINLY HERE TO INTERACT, MEET PEOPLE & SPREAD a BIT of HAPPINESS, AS THERE'S SO MUCH OF THE "ALTERNATIVE" OUT THERE ALREADY. AND IF BY CHANCE I PUT OUT SOMETHING THAT'S(GASP) EDUCATIONAL FROM TIME 2 TIME, WELL, THAT'S NOT SO BAD EITHER. I DON'T PREACH OR PRESSURE ANYONE ABOUT ANYTHING. NOBODY IS GOING 2 HAVE THEIR LIFE RUINED BY ANYTHING I SAY or DO HERE. I DON'T PUT OUT MUCH "PERSONAL" INFORMATION EITHER. I'VE SEEN PEOPLE TOO EAGER TO LAY THEMSELVES OPEN BY REVEALLING THEIR INNER WORKINGS. AND I'VE SEEN THINGS COME BACK 2 HAUNT THEM. YOU CAN'T UNRING a BELL. ONCE SAID or DONE, IT'S OUT THERE! I'M FAR FROM INTIMIDATING AS WELL. I'M AS LOST & UNSURE ABOUT THINGS AS THE NEXT GUY(OR GAL). THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ATTEMPTING TO IMPROVE SOMEONE'S DAY..OR NIGHT. IF I FAIL, AT LEAST I TRIED. AND IF I'VE SUCCEEDED, EVEN FOR A MINUTE, THEN THAT'S A POSITIVE. I'VE GOT SO MANY "CONTACTS" THAT I CAN'T GET TO EVERYONE REGULARLY. I PURPOSELY DON'T HAVE ANY OF MY FRIENDS LISTED ON MY HOMEPAGE, SO MOST TIMES I DON'T GET TO SOMEONE UNLESS THEY'VE VISITED MY PAGE RECENTLY. BUT I DO TRY. ANYWAY, IT'S LATE & I'M RAMBLING NOW WITH MIND MEANDERINGS. SO JUST LET ME CLOSE BY SAYING THAT I DO UNDERSTAND, AS MUCH AS I'M ABLE WHERE YOU'RE COMING FROM. YOU'RE ACTUALLY NOT THAT FAR REMOVED FROM QUITE a FEW OF MY OWN FEELINGS. HAVE a HAPPY HOLIDAY RANI
ReplyDelete(Arthur gave me the link to your page)
ReplyDeleteand I am very grateful he did-- what a warm, welcoming sincere blog and comments.
Wish you the very best!
Hi Rani! Arthur gave me the link to your blog. I read it and was glad to see that you are open with your thoughts and feelings. I wish I could give you great words of advice but I have found in life that you should just be you and let people like you for that. That to me is the best way because you will find those who will really open up and be friends with you. And those are the best friends to have!
ReplyDeleteI would also encourage you to try to be happy because there are many many good people in the world even if it seems hard to find them and to connect with them. I think God in his wisdom lets us experience sadness and disappointment so that we can become stronger in him and know what is really important as well as to know what is truly meaningful.
Anyway Dear One hold faith and just be yourself and be happy for you are very important in this world!
Namaste!
We all are different with different opinions an ideas but like a rock thrown in a pool the ripples interconnect an touch never part of the cause but still part an connected just the same we can be the rock at times we cause the ripples an other times we are one of the ripples connected an affected by the rock make any sense oh well just my rambling.
ReplyDeleteHi,Rani!
ReplyDeleteI came here through a link.......
A link of friendship and Love.
We are all connected in one way or another.No one is really alone,even though we feel it sometimes.Yes,we are alone in our thoughts......but in Spirit,we are all linked.
We are The Universe,made manifest.We are The Universe (God,if you want),trying to figure itself out.We are all Star Stuff.
And through the Internet,we have connected in exciting (and sometimes scary) new ways.
Just reading the wonderful comments on here,proves that there are lots of good people out there.
What a great blog! I think you revealed yourself in mighty fine fashion. Now-- you have stimulated my thinking-- I might have to blog about this subject of connections! laughing!
ReplyDeleteOPINIONS ARE LIKE ASS HOLES-- EVERYBODY HAS ONE! This is one of the hubby's favorite expressions!
Aren't all the opinions interesting though? I'm glad to have you on my friends list-- just hoping you'll want to stay there!!! Laughing! HUGHS!
Rani...Arthur sent me a link to your blog...and I am so grateful that he did! I would like to add you to my friends, and hope that you will visit my blog. We have a couple of things in common. I am a Missouri Synod Lutheran ( which has caused me great pain at times, but also great joy) AND I am a church secretary (for a Baptist church!) How diverse is that! :) At any rate, I wish for you Peace and Comfort throughout this Holiday Season :)
ReplyDeleteHi Rani, Arthur gave me your link. Many of your ideas mesh with mine. Alone time is essential for me, that is where I am able to recharge. I help others with their problems all day. I think sometimes we search too hard and miss what we need the most. Sometimes we just need to be stilll and let it manifest. Take care.
ReplyDeleteYes we are, most of the time oblivious that we are touching someone. . .or being touched, until that light goes off. . .
ReplyDeleteI have been mulling this blog over and over.
ReplyDeleteI will respond to it later.
In the meantime, have a great day.
Good morning, my dear. I enjoyed reading your blog, it spoke volumes. You revealed a great deal about yourself. Your desire to belong ... your search to find your self ... your need for balance. As the reader, this is my opinion of your essay, not to say it was your message or intent.
ReplyDeleteAt 61 years old, I continue to search. I often shun groups, for all the obvious reasons. We are all unique in who we are and we need to celebrate that uniqueness and cease thinking it is a flaw in our being and know it for it’s perfection. That is called self love.
It is to be hoped that we can learn something from each other. It is to be hoped that we can borrow the positive and shun the negative and create the person we want to see in the mirror. In my opinion, the saddest people are the ones that shut themselves off and refuse to experience diversity. Or, the ones that hold steadfast to one group and feel superior to all others.
In the end, I try to be true to myself and others. I think you are of the same mind. Nice blog. I hope you have a wonderful holiday. And I am most proud to call you, Friend. ZeeZee
you wrote "I am a little bit like all of you ... and nothing like any of you. And I do not share myself completely with anyone but God. So if He does not exist, then apparently I do not share myself completely with anyone but myself."
ReplyDeleteI've got good news for you you're not alone in how you feel...I sometimes sit at home wishing I could go home...like I'm not really there and somehow unconnected with my life...but one thing I KNOW with certainty is that God is real...so we share a commonality in our desire to talk to him directly...and he always answers...in this case with my words to you...he has answered me in many mysterious ways...some times it takes a light to go off in my brain to see that he did but he always is faithful
good post...
Across The Void
ReplyDeletehow can a man express
the love that he feels
for one or two
or maybe all
~
no one can hold so much
in the arms of love
not in this world,
no, my friends,
not in this world
~
there remains a
fundamental void
with boundaries
I can not touch
the way to be…just
beyond my reach
~
I see…I can see it
feel it…dream it
in the dark of the night
but yet,
and yet it remains
at my fingertips…
it must be
so I can send it along
down the line
with love
to one or two or
maybe all
~
Mike Carson
4-14-1989
I felt connected long before I ever was...
This is an amazing blog with amazing responses...One of the best I have read in some time. When one's personal heart can be downloaded through time and space to be shared by caring and sometimes curious souls...that in itself brings about a connection that is beyond description. The internet, a web, pulling minds and hearts together through words, music and video....connecting and interweaving a bond reachable by some only through cyberspace. We are never alone in reality only lost within the inner depths of our souls.
ReplyDeleteLet's get together for coffee. My treat.
Have a MARY CHRIST MASS.
We are all connected in the great scheme of things dear one. My friend Arthur lead me here to this wonderful place. I love and fully understand your blog. I grew up Catholic, and have many different beliefs as well. I never fully agreed with the religion I grew up with but always believed it's what is in your heart that matters. Blessings to you.
ReplyDeleteditto to all tyhats been said and all thats unsiad which is usually the truth or the heart of the matter. beautiful blog and beautiful faith.
ReplyDeleteThat's the magic of the internet....
ReplyDeleteYou get to connect with people from all walks of life.
And I feel richer for it....
Great post.
Hi Rani,
ReplyDeleteThis is what makes Multiply and my connections so rich. The diversity, the opinions, the compassion, the heart felt wishes that are truly felt and reciprocated back to those who reach out, make for quite an opportunity.
On occasion, I had questioned my time on Multiply and would I miss my contacts. So I avoided signing in to see and question the Value of internet connections. How important are they to me,
as I have barely enough time to keep up with my friends and family let alone the daily news.
As it turns out, I have found out that I have invaluable friends on line that complete me in a way.
It turns out that they are here for the same reasons that I am.
To be connected, to be informed, to feel life to the fullest and sometimes to be challenged.
I am very grateful and humbled to the many who have broadened and to enrichen my personable beliefs as well as my global views in general. Thank you to the many who are respectable people.
Thank you Arthur.
My dear friend Bill, so wonderful a blog you have written in my comment box! I love your writing and the things that you share. This particular post, I will treasure always, and add to "who I am." Thank you for adding your light to mine. Bless you, dear friend. Rani
ReplyDeleteArt, thank you for being teacher to me today! I deeply appreciate the wisdom our Creator has shown to you. Here on Multiply, at least, we do "walk in the same forest" in a sense. wish I knew "the people's" words as you do ... their sounds are so expressive. Fortunately for me, though, you also speak English. Until next time -- Rani (P.S. Thanks for the song.)
ReplyDeleteLinda, reading your comment here has somehow helped me pinpoint more of what I was "feeling" that prompted this blog. I actually do more reading of my friends blogs than what I blog myself, believe it or not. (I am a "reader".) It was a Multiply friend who first taught me the value of commenting. Reading most of what each of my friends writes, makes me feel so connected to them, makes me feel like I know them; but sometimes I notice that they don't necessarily seem to know me. Being a one-person-at-a-time communicator (in "real life" I do well in classroom discussions, but not at social gatherings), I have had several close friendships in my life, often with people who do not necessarily know each other ... often it is because I am a good listener ... but life has changed things often, and the friends move on (change jobs, etc.). I feel connected, though, for ever ... yet in "real life" most of my friends are not "writers" like I am. That's the one common thread for everybody on Multiply. We all write, on one level or another. But in "real life" so many of those I have in my heart but time and space separates us ... and they leave off the connection to me, because they don't write letters, or emails, or they don't use computers ... and Time just rips them out of my heart and out of my life.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your blog, I realized anew, that so much of that does not happen to EVERYONE ... lots of people have families and communities that are more lasting than mine has been. My family moved a lot when I was growing up, etc., as I said in my blog.
But reading the comments here, today, I am becoming more poignantly aware of the "realness" of THIS community. And hope is dawning as I float on THIS river (see Art's comment) that my friends here will always be writers, like I am; and I am (I hope) not as likely to lose so many of you from my life, as I have lost the others.
Thank you, Linda, for all your comments. Your friend (for real), Rani
Nobody does it better, in my opinion, than the Lutheran Church. My mom used to call it "midnight mass" even though it wasn't Catholic, and she never was, either. We became Lutherans when I was 14, we were twice-a-year Methodists or Congregationalists, depending on where we lived before that ... except that us kids went to Sunday School most every week ... but our FAMILY didn't go to church regularly until the neighbor kids invited my siblings to VBS at a Lutheran church and my mom just loved the worship service. And so do I.
ReplyDeleteAfter my divorce, I had to leave (because I moved again) the rural Lutheran church I HAD, for the first time in my life, felt "connected" with. I had only been at that church a couple of years (not the one I finished growing up in ... and my parents moved again after I was married ... they became Episcopal later, and now they don't go to church anywhere and they live 1,000 miles away from me).
Maybe it's that I'm a small-town-girl at heart, living in a City ... but anyway, back to churches ... in '96 I was "church shopping" and homesick for my church up north, and my mom told me to quit looking for something that isn't there -- just go to church where you feel "comfortable with God" ... and so that's what I do.
Glad you stopped by ... look forward to possibly getting to know you. I will visit your page after I finish reading all the comments here. Till then, I hope you do make it to Midnight Mass, and I hope that if you do, it blesses your "inner being". Rani
Thanks for being so candid. I had no idea. The "more than I can take" comment I made to you, is just my eyes and ears when I visit your page LOL ... sometimes I want a little rock n roll, but I couldn't even take much of the psychedelic colors when I was 19 years old, let alone at 56. and sometimes i wish the graphics you post on my page would be a tad quieter, too ... but they usually give me a smile, at least when I first see them ... but if they stay on top too long, they get "noisy" to my eyes, so on a couple of occasions, I've eventually deleted them. Hopefully you haven't noticed, because I don't really want you to go away or anything. You get to be yourself, too. And sometimes, even with all the noise on your page, you're just the place I want to visit.
ReplyDeleteThank you from the bottom of my heart for your comment on this blog, Steve. Your friend, Rani
The best to you, as well! I will visit your page after I finish reading the comments here. Blessings, Rani
ReplyDeleteThat is EXACTLY what I want to say to each of the souls who cross my path, in ANY forest that I travel. And especially here, on Multiply.
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming to my page. I will visit yours when I have finished reading the comments here. God bless you, Rani
Makes PERFECT sense, Mel !
ReplyDeleteCool phrase! I love it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for following the link of friendship and Love over to my page. I will follow your footprints back to yours after a while, when I have finished reading here. Nice to meet you!
See, now, that's exactly why I need you for a friend. Succinct, highly-quotable, but something I would type and then delete before posting, just because, well, I'm a mild-mannered reporter. Love you, Gloria! BEEE yourself!
ReplyDeleteI will check my friends requests and add you ASAP! I'm a Methodist secretary (forgot to mention the denomination in the blog). So glad Arthur gave you my link! E you later! Rani
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, too, what I like to do, is hold the mirror sideways, and let my friend see that s/he is finer than s/he thinks.
... felt connected long before I ever was ...
ReplyDeleteMike, nobody words makes tears run from my heart straight down my face like yours. Thanks for stopping by, and for commenting on mine.
Note to other friends: Mike is a published poet. Each of his poems is amazing. Please visit his page if you need to read poetry, as I do. http://kitcarson.multiply.com/
Love, Rani
AMAZING response!
ReplyDelete(in fact all of them are, aren't they) (oh, that's what you just said) (no, I wasn't intending sarcasm there -- I made a characteristic Rani-Kaye-ism, as my husband calls my blunders into the sublime)
Yes, that is becoming ever clearer. This is not in the least a waste of time. I'm remembering from biographies I have read of some of the U.S. "founding fathers" that in those days, many people began their day by attending to their "correspondence" ... letters from and to each other. Perhaps part of the strength that framed our constitution was born of those written connections, exchange of ideas.
ReplyDeleteHi Rani,
ReplyDeleteI hope you are having a wonderful holiday season however you celebrate it!
Thanks for the invitation to reply to your comments in my guest book. Looks like lots of folks have ;-)
I do stop by occasionally but its true, I don't comment often any more.
To be honest, there's a few reasons for this but mainly its because I am "a bit out there" (to use your words ;-) in my views at times and I have been dropped by people I thought were good friends -- people like kittyh1 for instance who commented above and who was one of my dearest online friends back on Y! 360 when I first started blogging, here and elsewhere.
It is never my desire to offend people with my comments on their pages (or on mine for that matter) and it seems the best way to avoid that is to either post nothing of substance, to only post agreements to what they said -- sort of like a "yes man" --or to not post at all. I tend to do the latter.
I mainly use the inbox feature to see what people are posting about and then visit the ones that look interesting to me. I visit lots of blogs but seldom comment these days.
On my pages I always welcome diverse views. People often disagree with me, that's part of what I enjoy about blogging, but it seems that many people only want those who agree with them to post on their sites (this is NOT directed at you personally by the way, just a general comment about why I stopped posting as much everywhere).
As I am very blunt and honest in my various opinions, sometimes 'very conservative' sometimes quite liberal or progressive and sometimes fairly singular in my take on things, I have tended to limit myself from posting elsewhere for this reason.
Sounds like I'm sort of like you in that my roots were never planted too firmly with any one group of people. I left home about as early as I could figure out how to it, I traveled much of the world, spent months at a time alone in caves, or in monasteries, ashrams, on the road etc. etc. and found my constant companion to be God alone. So I don't join bandwagons or base my views on what is politically correct. My views are my own for good or ill. For this reason I often seem to offend everyone equally ;-) Liberals accuse me of being too conservative, conservatives of being too liberal, Christians for being too pro-Israel or too Hindu etc, Hindus and Jews of being too Christian... etc.
I tend to be quite open about who I am and what I believe and I respect the views of others -- especially of those who think for themselves. This makes deciding how and when to post to other people's blogs sort of a balancing act. In the end though, I think you are correct, the only person one can be truly open with, and the only one whose opinion really matters, is God. I always try and conform to the Light I have thus far received and to be ready for whatever lies ahead -- trying to figure this part out is a favorite past time of mine hehe.
And if there is no God... then none of this matters anyway....
Fortunately there is a God ;-)
Peace, Love and Light my friend.
~ John of AllFaith
Stopping by via a link....we all need each other now more than ever. It doesn't matter where you are, God is there with you.
ReplyDelete“Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not."--C.S.Lewis
Wishing you a Blessed Christmas.
I have noticed this about you John -- that even though your opinions are sometimes, perhaps more often than not, what I call "out there," -- you are respectful to the people who comment on your page.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your sharing some of your life story with me here. In Christ, Rani
Hi Rani Kay...Arthur gave me your link. I am Libby, but I am living in China right now, where multiply is sadly blocked. I just got to Hong Kong for a little vacation and I am happy to meet you!!!!
ReplyDeleteI will be here, blogging for the next six days!!!
God bless you!
I have had this happen so many times. I, too, have moved frequently, or did earlier in my life. I met friends that I thought were friends for life but, like you, it was left to me to keep the connection alive. After a while, I gave up because it was too painful to keep sending letters, Christmas cards, birthday cards, and making phone calls, when the other parties never responded in kind.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right, that is one of the big differences with blogging. The people who are here like to write and they like to read. And once connections are made...well, true connections are hard to break.
Big smile. Thanks, Star.
ReplyDeleteFont size increased on this blog at the explicit request of zeezeewriter. In case she ever stops by.
ReplyDeleteWow! Quite a mouthful, Rani! Quite a heartful! So much of it says what I often feel. Thanks for "tiptoeing through melancholy"! Misery...well, Melancholy, at any rate...loves company! *hugs*
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