Connecting 101
And we meet again here in blog land, my friends! I trust that you and yours are finding this fall season to be calming and peaceful after those busy, hectic days of summer! (Remember when they used to be called the "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer"?) I am using this season to re-connect with family and friends. Our summer gatherings were wonderful; but they were often squeezed in to fit our busy schedules. This season, as we hover close to the holidays, I find that I'm looking for some personal time with people - time that is just for us. And that takes some reaching out and commitment on my part. I need to make the commitment to place that phone call, to make time for others and to be "in the moment" when I'm sharing time with them. We are all busy but we relish the time when we can connect with our loved ones and friends.
That reminds me of a funny but poignant story about my youngest brother, Salvatore. Salvatore was an incredibly talented musician. He was able to reproduce music on the piano that he had heard in church that morning when he was 5 years old. He was also an "introverted socialite" like myself (outwardly social but passionate about his personal space) but felt comfortable reaching out to others when he was ready for company. Well, when he was about 6 or 7 years old, he became the proud owner of two walkie-talkies at Christmas. For those of you who can only relate to today's modern technology, walkie-talkies had a limited broadcasting range and usually only allowed you to communicate between the two handsets. The channel frequencies were very limited "back then." Once in a while, you could connect with someone on another handset, if the person was very close in proximity and on the same channel. Well, the story goes that my dad explained all this to Salvatore one cold day and my brother proceeded to test the limits of his walkie-talkies. He left one handset in the house and went outside to see if he could raise anyone else on his or her walkie-talkie. So, the rest of us are sitting in the kitchen and, through the handset he left inside, we hear, "Is anybody out there?" We remain still. And we hear him ask again, "Is anybody out there?" Our eyes meet around the kitchen table and we secretly ask ourselves, "Should we say anything?" At first, we laugh. Poor Salvatore, he doesn't realize that it's only us that can hear him. Poor little guy, he's out there looking for a connection and doesn't know that it's next to impossible to reach anyone but us. Then, it dawns on us. Maybe HE's the smart one and WE are the ones who don't realize the potential in reaching out into the unknown just to see if someone IS out there? He wasn't afraid to take the chance, to put himself out there and to perhaps make a new friend.
It's simply human nature to want to feel connected to others. We enjoy hearing from friends and family when we least expect it...for no particular reason....just to say hi. When times are gloomy, our spirits can be lifted by simply hearing a friendly voice on the phone. Our hearts are warmed when someone shares in our successes and takes the time to let us know how proud they are of us. And that happened to me just the other day. I was reviewing my blog comments Friday morning for my blog "Dream Big With OT" and was brought to tears by a comment from a mom who had allowed me to share in her daughter's successes over a year ago! I have always felt connected with this mom and her family; but after she took the time to provide a comment, I was also touched and honored! (Thanks, Tina) THEN, in the afternoon on that same day, I once again reviewed my blog comments and found that my son had posted one also! I was so excited about it that I accidently deleted it! Yes, I did. (You'd have to know me a little better to realize that this is not an uncommon type of behavior for me!) I was beside myself! I quickly emailed Jessica, our web editor, begging her to "get it back" for me! I'm always quite confident that "web-people" can work miracles. She, however, was a bit more realistic and promised to try her best. Again, I was simply distraught. Here was a heart-warming response from my son, and I messed it up. So, I texted him, emailed him AND called him to apologize. And in the end, I got the best comment of all. He said, "That's ok, mom, I just wanted you to know that I read the blogs." And isn't that what it's all about....connecting...letting others know that you are "out there". Isn't it all about taking the chance and putting your thoughts and words out there so that a new connection is made or a current one is strengthened? (Thanks, JB)
Friday was certainly one of my best "blog moments." I shall treasure those comments and the re-connections that were made that day. Friday was also an "ah-ha" moment for me when I realized that blog land is just like "walkie-talkie" land. I'm simply using a more modern piece of technology to reach out to you all to make a connection!
So, until next time,
Stay Connected!
Katherine