Wise Dots

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It has very little to do with intelligence and everything to do with humanity…

Liz said this when she was wondering a week ago about what it meant to be wise. I thought about how I viewed others as wise. It wasn’t because they knew 1+1=2. That’s because they were smart. It was when they took my problem and helped me look at it in a different way and in so doing showed me the path that was obscured because of me. They didn’t have to have a solution already or have lived that problem before. They simply knew how to look at things a little differently and in doing so taught me more than I could learn alone. They were wise. Liz also said…

Maybe wisdom defined is unconditional love and understanding. . . .

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Chris talked about trust and seeking advice. Mike nailed it in his comment to Chris …to lead us either out of our current situation, or into a better one - they must first come to where we are and take our hand.

Perhaps wisdom is seeking the unknown rather than the known. . . .

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Phil reminds us that wise men ask great questions. The conversations I’ve had with great friends/mentors/advisors were always those where they never stopped asking me questions even though they were uncomfortable ones but always done with heart. They somehow knew that until they understood how I got to where I was and where I wanted to go, they could not help me. But in doing so, we travelled down the path together.

Wisdom comes from unexpected quarters. . . .

Mathew has been a long-time proponent for comments on blogs. He says, . . . I think the “conversation” is part of what makes blogs so powerful (even if it’s more of an argument!) . . . Just as no meal is complete without dessert, no blog entry should be read without the accompanying comments. They add dimension, flavor and dare I say, wisdom.

Wisdom is accumulated over time. . . .

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Jules said it best when she reminisced on when we believed we could fly and we grow wiser over the years. I don’t remember changing, it must have happened when I was asleep.

Since Liz inspired this post, it’s fitting she has the last words. . . .

We can change the world — just like that!

May the dots be with you!


Vern, The Idea Dude

Giving Dots

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Tomorrow will be Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Thanksgiving conjures up words like harvest, community, celebration, thanks . . . and giving.

Have you ever thought of your blog that way?

Every time we post, it is a gift. We determine what kind of gift we will be giving.

Gifts are meant to be free.

Free means no expectation that people will comment or link.

Gifts are voluntary.

We have no obligation to blog. Voluntary means when a blogger feels like giving.

Not everyone will like your gift.

A gift is not a contract to please. Voluntary means no obligation to receive.

While the act is immediate, the intent is timeless.

A gift posted now, could be read today, tomorrow, or 6 years from now.

That gift is a transfer of something from us to others.

What was it you were trying to say?

Gifts are given, not shared.

I used to think that blogs are moments and knowledge we share. Sharing somehow means we haven’t let go. Perhaps we should rethink. Are our words best shared or given without reserve?

A gift, no matter how big or small, is still a gift.

Appreciate the act of giving and the giver first, then enjoy the gift for its heart not for its value.

The best gifts are unexpected.

Perhaps it is why we continue to write and read. We find that story that inspires us, makes us laugh or, just as often, makes us cry. Little do we realize that those moments, in some intangible way, change our lives forever. Imagine you could erase every blog you read from your memory. Would you feel empty? Surely I would . . .

Then there is the reciprocity . . .

What is the harvest? the conversation, of course!
Blog posts are created in response to ours. Comments are left because we started a conversation.

This thankful dot went looking for dots to connect this week. Instead, of 1 or 2, I found the blogosphere. So rather than name a few,

This post is really for YOU!

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You made me think . . . why isn’t every day a Thanksgiving Day?

May the dots be with you! . . . and thank you.


Vern, The Idea Dude

Serendipitous Dots

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Serendipity

Definitely one of my favorite words

… desirable discoveries by accident. (as defined by Dictionary.com)

Writing for “Connecting the dots..” is entirely driven by serendipity. There is no plan, just a gentle meandering through the blogosphere and going wherever the words will blow me. Of course, it comes with an element of fear, like going on a world tour with just a backpack and no known destination. What will Vern say next? Usually I have no clue…

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Liz is intentionally serendipitous. You’re only a stranger once! she always remind us. I suspect if she was the captain on the Starship Enterprise, we would regularly hear her say…

Permission to engage!

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That was the message I got from Richard, the ‘Company Doctor’, When you go to a networking or marketing type event, the ONLY purpose you have is to “organize a cup of coffee”. It is asking for permission to engage, to explore syngergies of minds and souls.

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Speaking of coffee, head on over to the other side of Liz and listen to her describe serendipity waiting to happen. Actually, I was blown away by the way she described the girl. …she was a photograph waiting to happen. I wish I wrote that!

Just yesterday I walked out of Starbucks and caught the eye of someone. In that split second, it felt like there was a real connection. I know because I spent the rest of the day wondering why I didn’t say anything. Lost serendipity, methinks. I’m sure you’ve encountered moments like that.

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Of course, serendipitous moments are most likely to happen, the more you allow the world to touch you. For example, taking the subway train every day instead of driving is more serendipitous as OmegaMom found out. She recounts her joy of finding a busker who could touch her with beautiful music. She is indeed wistful for those days of serendipitous music providing a sound track for my city life.

Hmm, I think I need to slow down my frenetic life enough so serendipity can find me

May the dots be with you!


Vern, The Idea Dude

Unconditional Dots Between Fathers and Daughters

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Liz challenged me to write about a topic quite a while back. For the longest time, it never got written. Like seeing the first rainbow after rain, some things are just so darn hard to put into words. I was relating to her how my daughter danced into my life 13 years ago and this year literally danced into the world with great success. I was so proud. Liz said…

Why don’t you write a post about fathers and daughters? …this is it!

As long as I can remember, my daughter never walked to me. She always ran, whether it was at the airport, meeting her at school or anywhere where there were more than 20 feet between us. She ran.

This week, as I walked through the front door, she bounded down 2 flights of stairs, flung her arms me and hugged me like there was no tomorrow. When I asked what was so special, she simply said…

Just because…

At that moment, the clarity she brought to our relationship blew me away. Why should there be reason?

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Liz’s dad understood this long before I did. So it’s not surprising that he features so prominently in her blogging goal. Most daughters are proud of their fathers, as they should be. I won’t try to convince you how outstanding mine was. I’ll just tell that it is so. Her dad was not just part of her legacy but surely part of her destiny too.

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I suspect that Connie’s dad helped her realize that every dot connects. This lifelong Daddy’s Girl tells us one of the best gifts he gave was her conversational heritage.. He connected to Connie in a very special way and now she adds that “special” to all the dots she finds.

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There is nothing more beautiful than the tribute that Sheena wrote for her father. The ending is priceless…


He’s the man who gave me more
Than ever I could see
And now that I am grown
His heart lives inside of me…

Can’t think of a better way to end this post than with two lines from John Mayer’s song about Daughters.

I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world…

May the dots be with you!


Vern, The Idea Dude

Soulful Dots Speaking

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Perhaps it is archaic education or upbringing, there always existed a distinct difference in my mind between writing and speaking… Reading and writing was a passive, distance activity whereas speaking and listening was an active and intimate experience.

…until now.

Over the past months, I started to speak and listen through my blog.

The words were not just the medium, they were proxies for my voice just as your comments were for yours.

Is it so radical? you may ask.

I think it is, when you read, you want to be educated or entertained. When you listen, you want to be engaged.

When you write, you want to inform or enlighten, when you speak, you want to participate and elicit a response.

It is a question of intent, something that is beginning to change the face of the blogosphere.

The intent to converse and engage…

If that is your intent, then listen to these dots…

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Liz spoke this week of what it takes to be a superstar conversationalist. We have to be imperfectly human to draw a response and then be active listeners.

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Ann made me wonder, Maybe we need to listen to someone else’s interpretation of the conversation that can only come about if we start a conversation and then leave space for a response.

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As a parent, I love reading bloggers describe their experiences with their children. When Nesting Momma spoke about her child, falling from the nest, I realized I was not reading but listening when she spoke about, It will happen often, daily, yearly even in her adulthood; she will make mistakes, have accidents and fall from the nest. I am so honored to be the one that gets to pick her up, dust off her wings and give her wind to fly again.

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Robert told us a joke to end the week, it was pretty much the same way I related it to my son. For me, Robert is a story-teller first and a writer second. Isn’t that the way it should be?

Perhaps, the word blog has already outlived its usefulness because for many of us,

we’ve already taken it far beyond where we found it.

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Instead of saying I read a hundred blogs this week, I really heard a hundred souls speaking..

I am truly blessed.

So which dots spoke to you this week? pray tell!

May the dots be with you!


Vern, The Idea Dude

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