Connecting Dots Archives - Page 2 of 5

In the Company of Dots

December 2, 2007 by Liz

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

I overheard the following conversation…

Liz: Whoa! Look around us! Everyone is so . . . busy. We almost canâ€™t see each other. Whatâ€™s wrong with enjoying the folks we care about as we move through our lives?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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

Click here to see more dots we connected

Dots of Wonder and Light

November 25, 2007 by Liz

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

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

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

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

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

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

Click here to see more dots we connected

The Importance of Dots

November 18, 2007 by Liz

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

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

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

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

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

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

Click here to see more dots we connected

Remembering Dots

November 11, 2007 by Liz

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

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

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

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 canÃ¢â¬â¢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,

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…

. . . 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

Click here to see more dots we connected.

Dots that Dream

November 4, 2007 by Liz

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

My intent this week was to talk about thinking and finding new thinkers. I asked myself what do thinkers do when they think? Sure, they assimilate a lot of new information from around them and they come up with new ideas. But how do they do that?

I believe a lot starts with a keen sense of possibility. They ask themselves what if? and why not? and in the process a new thought is born. That idea emerges from imagining, not the impossible, but the possible. Watch a child play with Lego blocks and see how things are built as they see it. No-one told them it was impossible so they did it.

To dream is to imagine our own possibilities

So what is dream but an imagination of our future sparked by our sense of possibility. Yet so often, we are stereotyped by those around us, telling us it is foolish to dream and to survive in the real world it is all about execution. But without the dream, there is no vision and without vision, how will your execution get you there?

Dreaming other people’s dreams

Liz asks Why is it so hard for us to believe?We can believe that the other guy will win, but not us. He will be the President, the rock star, the artist. She will be the CEO, the actor, the international lawyer. But it never crosses our mind to aspire to that path.

Are you afraid to dream?

Joel says…what if we started to dream our own dreams? You and I might change beyond all recognition.

Empowered by our imagination

Jennifer asks us if we have a dream within and reminds us that Everything that was ever created by humans was first imagined. What can we imagine?

Keeping the strength to dream

Terry was inspired by a line from an Elvis song. But as long as a man has the strength to dream, he can redeem his soul and fly

Need I say more?

Dream on.

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

Click here to see more dots we connected

Dots that Change the World

October 28, 2007 by Liz

On this very blog, Liz’s open invitation is for you to join her to Change the World. We often think we have to be presidents, rich or influential to do that. We somehow believe that often we’re too ordinary or too insignificant to be agents of changes.

Consider this… if the net effect of one man donating $5 million dollars is the same as 5 million people donating a single dollar, why should we feel our donation of a dollar be worth any less in thought or deed?

We can be everyday heroes.

All it takes is an act of kindness…

Is it a coincidence that two of Liz’s call to actions are together we can change the world and be nice? I think not!

Make it personal.

Mary says it’s the little things that make a difference. Perhaps, in this hustle-bustle world filled with impersonal information, it is the personal attention, the personal contact, the personal encouragement that means the most.

Make time to acknowledge and encourage.

Robyn relates an inspiring story of choice and explains why …naming specifics makes a difference when you recognize brilliance in action… and ..helps people to become more of who they’re meant to be.

The best place to start is within.

Bob shares with us that any change, planned or random, involves a few key elements among them questions, fear and risk.. Those questions, fear and risk often leads to procrastination. I often have to remind myself, the question is not “what if I did”, but “what if I didn’t”… There is no change without action.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

Matthew shared with us a speech from Queen Rania of Jordan. There is no better call to action for us to change the world. In a shrinking world, we cannot afford to ration our compassion. More than ever, our fates are intertwined â€“ and our friendship must know no boundaries…we are the ones we have been waiting for

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude
Click here to see more dots we connected