Web sisters

I have found myself a group of "sisters" and I couldn't be happier.

I realize that it is 2010 and online forums have been around for quite some time, but I am a relative newcomer to anything more complex than e-mail when it comes to my online presence. I was always hesitant to join a group of people I couldn't see or hear. Call me old fashioned I guess, but it made me nervous.

I took the baby step a few years back and joined MySpace. I can honestly claim in was for the music. My favorite band in the world -- at that particular time in my life -- had a show coming up that I couldn't find information about anywhere else but MySpace. So I signed up. It was ok. I found old friends. Saw what folks had been up to since high school... It was good, but not life-changing.

Then came the next step. Facebook. Yep, there I was. Posting photos and following updates of people I hadn't actually talked to in years. But I was having fun.

Then I joined an online forum. I was nervous. I was scared. I didn't want to share too much, but I was sooo interested in what was being said by others. I was cautious.

Imagine my amazement and happiness when the forum turned out to be full of some of the most amazing women I have ever had the privilege to "meet." (ok, I have met two IRL :))

These women come from all over the world, range in ages, ethnicities, political and religious beliefs and interests... Yet, the common tie that brought us all together seems stronger than that.

There are disagreements occasionally sure. There are some harsh truths written about. There are raw feelings and emotions shared. But in the end, there is support. The type of support that is often hard to find -- the support that is there even when you screw up, the support that is there even when folks disagree with you, the support that is there even when you have a hard time supporting yourself.

As I have learned more about these women, my friendships with them are moving into my "real" world. I wonder about these women. I think of them when something reminds me of them. I worry about them when I know things are hard in their life.

What is my reason for posting this? In the end, it was just to ruminate about this group and my luck at finding it. And also to say thank you.

So to my "sisters," thank you.

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one." - C.S. Lewis

What's in a word?

What's in a word? I have been thinking about this off and on for quite awhile. I am not quite sure what sparked this latest thought train, but it has slowly but steadily been chugging away in my brain for about a week.

What do I mean by "what's in a word?"

First example -- Alabaster vs. pale.

"She has such lovely alabaster skin" or "She is quite pale."

Hmm, I know which one I choose.

To me, alabaster brings images of beauty and class and many things wonderful, while pale gives me visions of frail and sickly things.

Another example -- make love vs. have sex.

Oh my lord, I think there is even a 50 Cent lyric about this... let me check...

Indeed I was right. Courtesy 50.

"I'm into having sex, I ain't into making love "

Actually, a very succinct way of expressing what I was thinking, thank you Mr. Cent.

There are so many more that I could list but those are the ones that came most quickly to mind.

It just brings such an interesting spin to language and the power that it has. Just ask Rahm Emanuel, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and the folks at Special Olympics. They have been embroiled in a national... ummm, snit? over the word "retard" and its use.

Remember the rhyme, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me? Oh, how I vehemently disagree. Words can do such harm if used carelessly or with venom. The opposite is true, words have the power to calm, to express admiration, praise or love.

As I am writing this, I am thinking of how many facets this topic has in my mind. Just skimming the surface and I can think of so many things -- the power of political language, the 1st Amendment, grammar and how it can divide people along education lines just to name a few.

I think this will be something I post about again in the future. Just get my musings out there in the great land of the internet.

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

-Mark Twain

Big Ol' Snowball of... Negative Energy

Do you believe in the "Snowball Effect?"

I had honestly never given it much thought until recently.

It started with a simple comment, as so many things do.

I have started really focusing on getting in better shape. I am going to our local YMCA at least a few times a week. My boyfriend came with me the other day. On our way home I was mentioning how previously, I would get frustrated when working out because I never felt like I was getting results. Maybe I am impatient, maybe I am not working out effectively, maybe I just eat too darn much, who knows. The point was, that historically, I have gotten frustrated and ended up giving up.

My boyfriend said, well eventually, you will get started and then it will be the "Snowball Effect." Positive things will just keep piling on and you will notice more and more, and more quickly and more quickly...

Hmmm. Really? Maybe it is my mindset right now, but I have always seen the snowball as a large and scary thing.

How do I change my mindset? How do I start believing that positivity begets positivity? Right now, I am afraid I see positive things as individual beacons in a sea of negativity.

How do I change that sea into something more like this?