Today will see the start of the Silent Eye’s annual workshop in Derbyshire and so I will probably not be online for a few days. The workshop and the friends I will meet there will occupy me fully. Most of the time, I could say the same about the blog.
When I first began blogging, like most people I suspect, the stats were fascinating but they soon paled beside the human adventure of meeting people… touching and being touched by minds and hearts from across the globe. My inboxes are now busy every day, not just with official notifications, but with emails and messages from friends, readers and students. Some I have been lucky enough to meet in person, others are friends yet to be met. Most I will probably never be blessed to meet in person, yet their lives and mine have brushed past each other on these pages, leaving the traces of that passage as a fertile trail of ideas.
Communication is such a force in our lives and the internet has opened the doors to cross so many barriers of geography and culture. Countries I will probably never be able to visit are open to my eyes, if only through words and pictures, but reading about them in the words of those who live there, and who know the land, brings them to life. Viewpoints from all the nooks and crannies of human society are here to encounter and explore, faith from the deepest reaches of the heart, and I have been delighted with the acceptance I have seen for the beliefs and opinions of others, even where there is disagreement.
It is true that there are a few who are blinded and bounded by their own beliefs, but the vast majority of individuals are open to the exploration of other opinions, seeing something to celebrate in that diversity rather than something that needs to be shouted down or quashed. Causes are espoused, support given to projects and to individuals, hands are extended in friendship and compassion, laughter is shared… because it is a poor thing to keep to yourself… and in many ways the blogging community simply eradicates the imposed and illusive barriers we seem so readily to accept.
You have shared our adventures in the rural landscape of England, been there when I have been ill or hurt, rejoiced at my son’s triumphs… shared laughter and tears in poetry, photographs and prose… even adopted the small dog as she placed her paws on the literary ladder…. and some of you have travelled thousands of miles to support the Silent Eye at our workshops.
What began as a tentative dipping of a toe into the faceless sea of the blogosphere has become a very personal voyage of discovery, where there are real faces behind the gravatars, minds to be met, opinions to be explored and laughter to be shared.
I just want to take a moment to say thank you for that.
I am definitely richer, having met you, even if it’s behind a screen. Your writings have touched my heart. and for that, I thank You!! Have a wonderful time at the workshop! Looking forward to your return 🙂
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Thank you, Dorinda. x
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My pleasure, Sue xo
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Thank YOU Sue, for bringing such imagery and beauriful words into our lives 😊
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❤ xx
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I value the insights I get from your posts, Sue. I hope the workshop is a success for all concerned.
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Thanks, Audrey… it went very well. 🙂
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Have a wonderful time at the workshop, Sue. I definitely feel the richer having discovered your blog, I have learned so much about history, landscape and inner self from your beautifully reflective writing. You reinforce the feeling of positivity and wonder in the world around us and for that I thank you! On top of your own creativity, you run the wonderful #writephoto prompt that encourages others to share a little bit of their creativity with us too. Heartfelt thanks for all you do. KL ❤
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Bless you, KL…that’s a lovely thing to say. x
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Enjoy the workshop Sue. Looking forward to your return.
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Back now and trying to get caught up 🙂
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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And the blogosphere is all the better for having you in it, Sue! XXX
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Thank you, Jaye . Hope you are starting to feel a bit better now xx
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I am thank goodness…xxx
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That’s good to hear xxx
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I hope everyone enjoys the workshop, especially you, Sue. Look forward to hearing about it 🙂
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We did, Esther… and there will be much to tell, I feel 😉
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Oooh, very interesting!
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🙂
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Sue, a big thank you is in order! Your influence has been tremendously enriching! Blessings galore!
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Thank you. Sofia!
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I am so please we have touched in this strange world and I am better for it! Hi Ani!
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Ani is snoring on the sofa… 😉
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I have never met you, but still I’ve known you through your words and writings, I definitely feel good to have known you, and thank you for that. And have a great time at the workshop.
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Thank you!
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That is so nice, Sue. You have certainly enriched my life. I feel a friendship across the ocean that gives me delight and understanding through your words. So, thank YOU! Looking forward to reading about the workshop. Best to you, Sue.
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Thank you, Jennie x
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You’re welcome!
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I will miss being there this weekend (in-person) ❤
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You were much missed, Alethea xx
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❤
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Reblogged this on Viv Drewa – The Owl Lady.
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Thank you, Viv xxx
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This is a lovely post. Thank you, Sue, for having become such an important part of my life.
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Hugs, Mary x
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Such a lovely post, Sue. Wishing you a joyous weekend. Cheers to you! 🙂
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Thanks, Natalie 🙂
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enjoy every minute
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We did , thank you 🙂
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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Enjoy the workshop Sue. Is Ani “on board” too? Wish you great experiences. Michael
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Ani had a holiday withher friends…and is now back on her sofa, snoring 🙂
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This is a lovely post about the blogging community, Sue. I also enjoy it a great deal and have made lovely friends in this virtual community. Enjoy the workshop.
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It really is a community…and priceless.
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It’s been a great experience to go beyond the online contact, Sue. And we will have to get together again soon – though I suspect after the bloggers bash now! Enjoy the weekend
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Thanks, Graeme… we really must. There;s a stone circle with our name on it 😉
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I thank you, dear Sue, for so much inspiration, and so many interesting subjects you write about. ❤
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I love it, Martha 🙂
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Your post gave me fodder to remember many long years ago when the Internet was almost or perhaps just born. I remember thinking how communications with others would change and how there would be no more emotional exchanges because we would not be able to see each other’s faces or read their body language. Seemed perfectly logical to me at the time.
But how could I have possibly known that friendships, deep friendships, and even loves, would happen with people we never once came in contact with in person, and some who were across on the other side of the world? How could I have ever known that we would share life secrets, tears, sorrows and laughter, and that these friendships would last, sometimes for practically a lifetime?
You too have brought so much into this magical and adventuresome community, as have so many of the good folks I have met herein. I feel positively wealthy that I, as a woman whose years number more than I can count on my hands easily, have amassed so many friends who have in one way or another enriched my life in so many ways I may never understand. For this I am eternally grateful. And some of my good and long-lived friends are physically challenged too, some unable to leave their direct environments, and for them, communities and friends like this have brought to them something that people could never ever buy.
Thank you one and all, and especially you, Sue, for the daily color you bring to my life, and you, Stuart, and you, Steve, and all of you whose names are too many for my memory to write accurately. Isn’t it amazing how our world has grown and allowed us to move into so many parts of the world without ever leaving home? You all are fantastic!!!
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Thank you, Anne. While there is a risk of physical isolation with the internet, I am very well aware how much richer it can make the world of those unable to easily leave their homes… and for that I am grateful beyond measure.
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Thank YOU Sue. Enjoy! ❤
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❤ xx
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What Anne Copeland said! 😀 … I’d be lost without my daily dose of Sue. 🙂 Thank you.
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I’m not planning on going anywhere…or not for long anyway 😉
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And thank YOU, too. You have been a wonderful friend.
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Likewise, Marilyn. x
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