I returned to a half-empty house–Josie Girl is attending her first ever sleepover camp and will be gone until Friday–and the Husband and I were able to sit at dinner and eat and talk and otherwise mull over What Blogging Means in 2008. I told him a few of the highlights (although not the Panty Hose Story which will indeed get its own due, I promise) and amidst a conversation full of wonderful circumnavigation, he gave me the word I had been seeking: integral.
I had in fact marveled all weekend at the act and fact of integration I sensed, the melding of my various lives. Here were women like me who shared a love of technology, a desire to connect, a need to write and tell our stories, a penchant for the off beat joke or observation. It was startling to me to see how much we had in common in person, after only knowing one another virtually. I love to proclaim how we are all different and the same and this weekend I felt the truth of that, over and over.
But that word, “integral” means something even more. The inspiration of this weekend lay not only in how much we all share, it also lay in the sense I had that there is a possibility still untapped in the connection, and the sense I have that the connection exists for a purpose. Beyond the questions of privacy, voice, content, audience or even monetization, I see a mobilization here that can take us to another level. The Husband explained how Ken Wilbur talks of integral thinking, and the opportunity it offers us to “to bring new depth, clarity and compassion to the human endeavor.”
I suggest this word and this concept because for me what BlogHer proved is that there is a momentum to this effort and this work that simply cannot be lost or left to celebrity, discussions of snarkiness or how to make money. We need to think in larger terms, across boundaries and beyond fragmentation. The beauty of blogging (and BlogHer) lies in the opportunity for not only connection but also for what connection can accomplish.
Often on this blog and elsewhere I decry the “abstract.” Even so, tonight I ask myself how we can project outward from these moments into a deeper connection that means something more than fragmented stories told in isolated rooms. This is how I end the weekend, in a kind of limbo perhaps, looking for contextualization, a mandate if you will. Can we hope that BlogHer 09 will bring it on?
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Comments 10
That’s why I hate, hate, hate tights. Hate ‘em. Now excuse me while I go get my scissors and cut them up into tiny pieces.
I’ll have something less inane to say tomorrow, promise.
Posted 20 Jul 2008 at 9:50 pm ¶I found your site through my good friend Elizabteh Beglinger. Your writing is beautiful, and I am happy to have found a new blog to add to my obsession list!
Posted 21 Jul 2008 at 7:07 am ¶Just started blogging myself this week because I felt so alone, single-momming two kids with special needs. You reminded me that my boys are also, in the words of Clark Griswald from their favorite movie, VACATION, “on a quest for fun”, not on a quest to drive me insane. Thanks for helping me see the humor today.
Posted 21 Jul 2008 at 2:47 pm ¶oh, yes. it sounds as if it was wonderful and festive and meaningful and FUN!!!
i love what you say here.
i hope to join all you powerful women at BlogHer2009. here’s to deeper connections!
Posted 22 Jul 2008 at 4:44 am ¶It was SO great to meet you in person!!
I gave the copy of your anthology to my friend yesterday, thank you. I held my breath as I read your essay — the first one!! — it was so honest and bold.
Posted 22 Jul 2008 at 6:25 am ¶That was a very beautifully-written recap of your experience. I think blogging is very special… and can even be more. I hope all the marketing and commercialization doesn’t take away from the fundamental need for everyone to communicate and be creative.
Posted 22 Jul 2008 at 11:49 am ¶Thank you and I hope to attend BlogHer 09. I just inquired as to when and where on the home site. If you know already, please share!
Posted 22 Jul 2008 at 3:31 pm ¶This is the best wrap up post I’ve read!! I love BlogHer and I truly believe that the blogging forum is changing the world. I am all for the deeper connections and transcending any of the drama or BS that people tend to focus on.
And thanks for getting me hooked on Twitter, like I needed another reason to procrastinate!!
Posted 22 Jul 2008 at 6:25 pm ¶The Husband is a genius, and so are you.
Posted 23 Jul 2008 at 7:45 am ¶I would love to attend. Sounds great! Glad you came away with new insight from the experience.
Posted 23 Jul 2008 at 12:31 pm ¶Post a Comment