Soulful Dots Speaking

Filed Under Connecting Dots, Successful Blog | 11 Comments

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

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…

dotdoticon-tiny

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.

dotdoticon-tiny

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.

dotdoticon-tiny

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.

dotdoticon-tiny

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.

dotdoticon-tiny

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

Conversational dots

Filed Under Connecting Dots, Successful Blog | 13 Comments

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

The conversations within the dots…

Blogs started as personal logs. Today they are catalysts for engagement.

The Cluetrain Manifesto said it best…

When you think of the Internet… think of a table for two

dotdoticon-tiny

Ron was the catalyst for my thinking this week. His 7 tips to not be invisible was a strong reminder that whether in the virtual or real world, too often we forget to participate, preferring to be Lurkers are those people that read blog posts, message boards and other online community sites but do not participate. His call to action was

If you are investing time to read, why don’t you invest a few moments more to add to the discussion and create some visibility for yourself? It gets easier the more you do it and people appreciate the participation.

dotdoticon-tiny

Does it make a difference?

Sure it does. You’re invited to visit Citimama’s Project Life Change. I’m sure she felt wonderful to know her readers support her in her decision. Comments like You have me totally inspired! and I know how difficult that decision can be shows me this. She connected with her readers with her words, they reciprocated with their hearts.

dotdoticon-tiny

Mingle, or stay single

Amanda’s post about the lost art of mingling? equally applies in the virtual world as it does in the real world. Successful bloggers have a secret and it’s not Digg. They mingle… usually through blog comments. That is the biggest travesty about RSS feeds, the convenience it affords us means we consume content rapidly, never stopping at blogs and letting them know something we read moved or inspired us.

Without participation, there is no conversation

dotdoticon-tiny

If you want to change the world today…

Haydn asked that question on his blog wondering whether he should write a book. I selfishly implored him to blog instead so rather than wait a year or more for his wonderful insight, I could engage him in his thinking everyday perhaps taking him on different paths as he would me.

dotdoticon-tiny

Winning with dots

Every week, I’m thrilled to post here. Liz gave me a bigger soapbox and best way to describe what I do is a quote by Zig Ziglar I found thanks to the winning attitude.

The greatest good we can do for others is not just to share our riches with them, but to reveal theirs.

All of a sudden, I’m feeling kinda warm all over. Secretly, I think Liz figured this out long before I did.

May the dots be with you!


Vern, The Idea Dude

Simple Dots

Filed Under Connecting Dots, Successful Blog | 4 Comments

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

Life is simple, we make it complex.

dotdoticon-tiny

I took Joel’s advice to forget the sensational and look for the simple pleasures. We look at all the wonderful details of the good moments. We find the intensity in life’s simple moments, and simple pleasures.

This week I breathed pure air on a mountain 7,500 feet high, looked down a gorge 230 feet below, was dwarfed by trees 200 feet high and watched salmon jump upstream.

For me the simple became sensational.

dotdoticon-tiny

Simple things reminded me of what I read earlier today about what life is all about.We tend to forget about others in our pursuit for excellence, knowledge and improving self. Oh, I need to get this certification, I need to do it by this day, I need to …. I forgot that it was summer, I broke the promises, of going for a walk, riding the bike, many many times..

At this point, I decided to stop looking for dots this week, because they were right here next to me all the time and each needed a hug on our last day of vacation.

Must be the full moon this week, I read Liz’s post I’m dying to blog tonight… but I just don’t feel like it. In my case, I’m dying to blog tonight, but if I do, I risk missing my plane back to civilization in 4 hours and I need my sleep.

Sometimes life truly is that simple.

May the dots be with you!


Vern, The Idea Dude

Wonderful Dots

Filed Under Connecting Dots, Successful Blog | 11 Comments

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

I’m on vacation, or rather I’m recuperating from the frenetic run-up to the vacation. The word vacation made me think of footprints in the sand. Who made them and where. Blogs are like footprints, they are made everywhere. I wanted to take you on journey beyond my North American shores to show how dots from all over can reach us when it is so unexpected.

dotdoticon-tiny

It all started with Grigor. From afar as Croatia, he inspired me today. He only needed one sentence…

We must not require from our customers to be heroes.

So simply and so profound… a dose of wisdom for the day.

dotdoticon-tiny

Head over to the United Kingdom. How can you not read about DozeyMagz and her life with DopeyDaddy, Dustbunny and Mophead. It has the universality of being a mom with a heartwarming local twist from the land that beget Harry Potter. Her post on British weather made me smile…

There’s a big bright yellow thingie in the sky. The sky has changed from bland grey to a strange blue. It feels warm outside. I’m a bit scared.

A cup of tea with that dose of wisdom. I think I’ll read her blog with my daughter tonight.

dotdoticon-tiny

To finish our trilogy today, Bhaswati shares with us from India. Through her translation, she’s given us a gift, a beautiful piece of writing that now transcends language.

One doesn’t find the time to grasp that which remains unsaid within.

A lingering thought after the cup of tea is done.

For me, they are all some kind of wonderful…

How many posts on your blog does it take to move me?
just ONE

May the dots be with you!


Vern, The Idea Dude

Passionate Dots

Filed Under Connecting Dots | 6 Comments

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

For this week’s dots, I chose the theme…

passion

In the true spirit of Liz’s blogpost today, these dots did the most noble thing, they surrendered to their passion. They became Visible, Valuable and Mighty.

When you arrive at one of these dots… it’s like jumping into the ocean from a cliff, you are totally and immediately immersed into their lives, their passion.

I chose these dots because to many readers they will appear to be unconnected, three seemingly unrelated blogs. I connected them not through their subjects but through their hearts.

dotdoticon-tiny

Ruth is a long-time member of TheGoodBlogs. I’ve admired her consistent posts on food for all seasons. Each post is lovingly crafted with gorgeous pictures that inspires me to run to the kitchen and forget all my incompetencies as a cook. A blogger’s feast with a personal twist.

She even has a worthy competitor to the venerable Klondike bar (hardcore SOBs will know, that Klondike bars on Open Mike Tuesdays at this blog are synonymous to beer at Cheers).

dotdoticon-tiny

I met Jesse, Gitr, at Sobcon07. He is passionate especially when it comes to the World of Warcraft. Did you know he describes himself as having a 5th degree blackbelt in Microsoft Word! With close to 700 blogposts, he’s far from done and if you’re a gaming nut, you’ll appreciate the dedication and quality of his posts. It’s also why the blog is great, it is about Gitr playing the game not just another game review site. It is life of Gitr in his virtual world. Gitr is the WOW factor.

dotdoticon-tiny

When you visit Director Tom, there is no doubt that Tom is filmmaker. Scratch the surface and you’ll find Tom is more than the about lights, cameras, action. Those are merely props. He wants to tell your story through his medium and expertise and make it inspiring, personal and emotional. Tom says, My deepest desire is to see these stories help the world become a better and kinder place. That is Tom’s real passion. He wants to make us say, Let’s See That Again!

I get the sense that as long as they breathe and have a keyboard nearby, these dots will not go gently into the night. They will rage forever…

because they are simply mirrors of the souls who feed them.

May the dots be with you!


Vern, The Idea Dude

« go back — keep looking »