Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You're only a stranger once.

A Song of Dots

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A blog is a chain
Isabella inspired this week’s ponderings. She graciously translated a song and this verse opened its wings with a roar.

my song is a chain

without beginning, without an end,

and every link contains

the song of everyone else.

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A blog is an opportunity for dialogue. The blog post is merely the catalyst, the light in the window that invites us in. So is the blog not like Isabella’s song, a chain without beginning or end and every link contains the song of everyone else? A conversation with no end, with many threads leading in and leading out.

A blog is a mirror
Here’s another translation, this time, lovingly done by Bhaswati.

I saw my reflection

In your eyes.

You revealed yourself to me

By emerging from within me.

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Often we reflect upon each other’s writings and sometimes our thinking is born in the posts of others? It is a blessing, to have access a million thoughts in the hopes that one will inspire. Then while searching for one, we find ten. A cry of hope emerges and with it the epiphany that we are not alone.

As my good friend Liz says on this very blog. Sometimes I think that everything I know has been set to music somewhere.

May the dots be with you!



Vern, The Idea Dude


In the Company of Dots

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I overheard the following conversation…

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Liz: Whoa! Look around us! Everyone is so . . . busy. We almost can’t see each other. What’s wrong with enjoying the folks we care about as we move through our lives?

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Phil: Surely, we can draw on others to help us make it great. Albert Schweitzer said…At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

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Lisa: I agree. As you wander around the blogiverse you find remarkable and passionate people expressing their deepest values as an offer to you. They intrinsically link their core values to every post, every action, every gesture.

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Glenda: Iteraction is where the magic of blogging occurs and, sometimes, it can be quite amazing. That is why I blog the way I do.

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Mike: Every new interaction is a gift. People who believe in this model of universal reflection of gifts are setting themselves up to be delighted again and again! Doesn’t that sound like a good life investment strategy?

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Rick: If we have felt something, if we have thought something, there is at least one other person in the world who has felt or thought something similar, if not the same thing. We are their voice, as well as our own. We are never alone.

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Liz: A truly successful and outstanding blog also has meaning. Somehow, in some way to each individual, it makes a difference by adding something of value to being one who visits. You might call that spirit. You might call that direction or focus. I call that soul.

So what was unique about this conversation? It didn’t happen over the dinner table. It didn’t even happen in the same point in time.

Instead it was a synergy of thinking stretching across time and space.
Spanning months of blogging, the thoughts flocked here to Toronto from different states and different cities. From Chicago, Virginia, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Wisconsin.

That is way cool to be in the company of greatness!
May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude


Dots of Wonder and Light

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This week’s dots are about children. Ergo, it is about intelligence, curiosity, wonderment, humour, determination and everything they do so naturally. They are the best dots.

Dream like an 8 year old

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Matt over at The Digital Perm started me on this theme. He says, That is why kids just rock. Everything is possible.

Be curious like a child

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Pam reminds us that we need to regain our child-like perspective As adults we get so lost in day to day adult issues. We forget to pause for the wonderful moments in life. She says, When my son was just toddler I remember him picking up leaves and investigating them as if they were the coolest things ever.
Ever spend an afternoon with a 5 year old. The most common word you’re likely to hear is “why?”. They are like sponges, for them there is no limit, there is no sky. They want to know. Why? Just because.

Impossible is not a word

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Christina tells us in the most beautiful way of her child learning to jump. You’ve got to appreciate her determination. She doesn’t understand why she can’t get off the floor, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.

Laugh longer, laugh often

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Michele reminds us that children laugh more than we do. Did you know children laugh about 400 times a day, while adults laugh on average only 15 times a day?

This week it snowed in the city. I thought of sludge, ice and traffic jams. For my 13 year-old, the first thing that came to her mind that resulted a smile so wide, it warmed my heart the whole day long?

Snowballs!

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude


The Importance of Dots

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Can you imagine a life without blogs?

Life would go on, there is no doubt but I would imagine it would be with a heart a little less warmer, a mind a little less inspired, a life with one less dimension and a lifetime with one less connection…

It makes us smarter, quicker

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Mike says it makes him smarter – quicker. It amazes me the number of technical issues I have solved in the last 12 months simply because someone else had faced the same struggle and taken the time to share it. The access to collective wisdom has made me smarter, quicker.

Getting to the heart of the onion

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Loz describes reading a personal blog is like being invited into someone’s house. Each post on a blog is another room, and as we read them a little more of the writer is revealed….if we keep going we will one day get to it’s heart.

A lens to another life

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For Sean it is a lens to a world he would not have known, But sometimes blogging exposing me to a world I couldn’t see any other way. And these moments move me and cause me to pause.

The blogosphere is living cosmos

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Kent takes us through the blog lifecycle. He is amazed at how many blogs live and die in a twinkling of an eye. He ends his post with this hope. What I do know is that all legitimate bloggers, regardless of our motivation for blogging, have a vested interest in nurturing the blogosphere and encouraging the creation and continued existence of legitimate blogs by people we don’t know yet who have a lot to say, a lot to share, and a lot to teach us.

It is my hope also.
May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude


Remembering Dots

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Remember when? reminiscing is something we often do. Sometimes it is with a friend, walking back together to a special point in time. Sometimes it is in solitude to replay a fond farewell, a sad passing or a victorious moment. Reflection stirs our souls, brings a sigh, a smile, a tear. We look to the mirror of our past to draw inspiration, strength and comfort.

Remember because memories last beyond our lifetimes

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Crushed by Insoc tells us We need to KNOW what humanity remembers… Because with the coming of speech, comes the ability of man to remember beyond his own lifetime.

Surely our blogs are a manifestation of that speech, their existence will help us all remember this world beyond our lifetimes.

Memories are relived in unexpected ways

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For Ruth, each recipe made me think of a special moment from my childhood. The inspiration for her present comes from memories of the past. I remember the scent of whatever was cooking that clung to her apron when my grandmother hugged me…I can’t recall ever hearing my grandmother speak. Obviously I did, but all the other images are so much more powerful.

Memories offer painted pictures, the smell of the sea or a freshly picked flower, the sound of a train, a few chords from old song, the warmth of a hug, one seemingly ordinary moment can send us on an extraordinary journey to the past.

Try to remember to never forget,

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Julie reminds her 5-year old To cherish the little things, little but not insignificant. Like chalk drawings, carousals, kisses, laughs and hugs. She says, When I look back, I recall most clearly the unexpected hilarity, the joy found in what would normally be mundane.

We are the sum of our experiences…

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. . . says Wolfgang, adding that Memories, especially painful ones, help us to refine ourselves.

We often forget that our memories from our past can influence our future. We can choose to take the unhappiest ones to justify why we should be unkind, horrid or mean, or we can choose to take the brightest ones to inspire us to best that we can be.

What memories will you reflect upon today?

May the dots be with you!


Vern, The Idea Dude

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