Once again, timing proves to be everything. Lately it seems like a lot of people have started following the karma truck. I will confess I’m not convinced that all of these new passengers are real – something tells me the WordPress filters are going through some kind of crisis. And yet, today I received the loveliest message from someone new, and it was clear that she was neither a salesperson, corporate entity or accidental tourist. My delight in her arrival somehow tripped the ignition which lately has been reluctant to start.
In the ether, it is tough sometimes to separate fantasy from reality. Are we, in real life, what we project in our posts? I seem to follow those who I believe are as transparent as their defenses and sense of propriety permit. I have become friends with some who I have yet to meet, and I have every confidence that should circumstance and fortune collide, I would find them to be even more than my thoughts could have imagined.
Like Lori. We finally met this week. I recognized her instantly and she was more beautiful than any picture suggested. She has a giggle like a song, and a heart that beats with a rhythmic love that just draws the world to her. To be in her orbit was both exhilarating and comforting – for I was with someone I have known forever though I can’t remember where or when. I just know it to be so.
For twenty-four hours we talked, commiserated, wondered about people we have grown to care deeply for (despite not being able to identify them if we passed on the street – and you know who you are, which is a good thing), shared personal histories in more exquisite detail, cried a bit, laughed far more. My words are not doing this visit justice, yet I’m certain you get the gist.
Last week Bill @ drbillwooten.com was generous enough to include me as part of his WordPress Family. The coincidence of these two moments is not lost to me. We who write and read each other’s posts, who comment and delight, commiserate and comfort, find ourselves in a family of sorts. Perhaps it is not one that is standard issue, nor one that can be identified by pictures and get-togethers. But nonetheless, to one degree or another it is defined by connection and dare I say it, levels of love. There is no ambiguity despite the opaque wall of anonymity. Within these posts lie the magic of people I have come to love in a way that I need not try to define. I just have to acknowledge that it is there. And I do – with arms wide open.
Waiting for the Karma Truck 
Great blog, i hope too to see some of my new found friends, wish I had been active in blogging earlier
Welcome!!!
I, too, have been getting a lot of new followers – some I think are real, but I’m not sure about all of them. Many of them don’t seem to have a blog going at all. But like you, Mimi, I have come to love my WordPress family. You’re one of those people who I so enjoy and I know in my heart we would have a great time should we every meet in person. I’m so glad you got to spend time with Lori – it sound wonderful!
Cathy
I feel the same way about you Cathy – and who knows? Maybe one of these days we will be lucky enough to meet and wonder how fantastic happenstance can be…hugs, m
You touch so many people with your words, Mimi. It sounds like you had such a wonderful time with Lori. Continue to touch others this way. You inspire me.
As you inspire me Kristin..truly. It was a memorable wonderful visit – one that I know will lead to more in the future. And that’s pretty damn awesome! 🙂
This WordPress Family is quite something, isn’t it? It’s a bit hard to explain to family and friends who are not a part of this blogging community. I mean, how do you explain what someone in Italy, or SriLanka, or India said to you, and that it means so much even though you don’t know them personally.
Congratulations on the award.
Thank you Angeline – and yes, it is remarkable how small the world can be, and how fantastic it is when we are touched by those from places we have never experienced.
I don’t know quite how to convey how lovely it was to finally “meet” you and spend time together, sweet friend, for like you, I felt it to be merely a formality to satisfy convention–my heart has known you for many years.
You capture the wonder of this blogging community so beautifully. I, too, was humbled and honored to be recognized by Bill as a member of his WordPress family. The people I have come to know “over the wires” alternately delight, comfort, surprise and inspire me with every encounter. To think that I have established friendships as far flung as England and New Zealand and as nearby as Connecticut and Virginia delights me beyond measure. I, too, enjoyed our time together immensely and know it is the first of many. There’s always room in our driveway for the karma truck! Xoxo, l
Little tears of happiness, joy, knowing, and just that place where you feel something you know to be so true…your post is perfect! I am so happy you and Lori were finally in the same place at the same time, and not just virtually, because you’ve had that for a long time already!
This community amazes me every day and my gratitude only grows, for the opportunity to be part of all of this, you, all of us. Not long ago, my brother read and commented on one of my posts and in his comment [after reading those left by none other than you, Lori, Rhonda, David, etc..] he made a remark to the effect of me hitting the blogging jackpot with the folks I have connected with – even to him it is palpable, these connections, the care and concern we all have for each other and our lives. So yes, a family of it’s own making, our own making. Arms wide open too… xoxo
xoxo…:-) Here’s to our time!
Three cheers to our time!! xoxo!
WOOHOO!!!! xox
Wonderful Mimi
Thank you Bill – for everything..
I like that it does not have to be defined – only other bloggers understand the kinship
I agree..and I too like that it isn’t definable – yet I also have to say that if I wasn’t a part of it, I would want to put parameters around it so I could understand it.
“with arms wide open” You do indeed, my friend. And then with arms closed in a big warm loving hug. Another beautiful post!
Russ
And Russ, you are part of this cyber-family that I have come to know and love – and appreciate daily.
Mimi as the pied piper-why am I not surprised? How fortunate that so many other people have experienced someone who I am so proud to call my friend.
Glad you’re back behind the wheel. I have missed you. Thrilled your meeting and connecting with Lori surpassed your wildest dreams You still have gifts to give the world that have yet to be opened. Time will prove that to be true. In the meantime, embrace the moments as I know you will and hold tight to the fact that with every thing you learn and every word you put on the page you reveal a virtual kaleidoscope of love for that is who you are; brilliance and light and love ❤
Thank you sweetheart – not sure I’m offering a whole lot of gifts to the world, but really really thankful that the world keeps gifting me with love like yours…all there is..m
Family is what you make it. And there have been moments when I’ve had relatives openly wonder at ‘who are these people you talk about and seem so connected with?’. Those are the moments when the blogging experience reminds me of the dynamic you see in a surgical waiting room. WordPress brings all of us together in one place with humans we wouldn’t otherwise gather with. And then the magic happens.
While we each have different objectives for posting, each of us can resonate with the chords those others strike in us. And that, is my definition of what’s core in a genuine community. Congrats…you hit a chord (ha!). Travel well. See you on the flip side. Dan
Hi, ‘and then the magic happens’ – yes! That connectedness that just occurs and you’re in a groove with others who totally get what you’re doing. I love your definition..thank you! See you soon (so to speak)..
Mimi and Lori in the same place? How charmed was that spot in the universe for 24 hours! Cheers to two amazing women!
It really was a charmed spot for that short moment in time!! She is as wonderful as you can imagine and then some.
Awwww, what a sweet thing to say, Christine, and may I also add that Mimi is just as big a sweetheart in person as she is online. We giggled and gabbed liked a couple of schoolgirls. It was AWESOME. 🙂
Of course she is. I’m certain she would say the same of you.
I am SO glad that you and Lori met. I feel that I have come to know you both over the last 12 months in this wonderful cyber-community. I am glad that you connected in the real world. 🙂
Me too Elizabeth…as I hope one day we can meet in the physical world. It was a heartwarming, magical day..
Lovely thoughts about the blogging world Mimi… as you say it’s indefinable and yet so important. I love to think of all this love and friendship in a golden cobweb of light linking us all around the globe…
I will hold onto your beautiful imagery Valerie – for yes, that is exactly how it can be seen. A golden cobweb that connects us with light.
Love. Full stop.
The next time I see Lori, I’m driving and making a pit stop. Get ready Kanigan.
How’s about we meet in the middle, ummmm, say in Connecticut?! I don’t want to be left out of this loop. 😉
FIELD TRIP!!!! Let’s go!
🙂
I’ll need to return to read the comments. But you deserve the award, very much so. Loved this post. I have also become a blogging friend of two lovely ladies. Both of them are British and this is something that I would never have imagined. I have yet to figure out what attracts one to another and it is all through what or how we write or how we comment on someones’ blog. Very odd but a very good thing.
A wonderful thing – absolutely..
So thrilled to see that you and Lori had actual face time!! At last it happened. I share the sentiments of every comment here…and will say again that your words hug my heart and have since the very first day…xoxo
xox..loving your photos WW..xox
Thanks Mim…they are my thousand words in the quiet times…xo
Mini – your words are like magic and you are a blessing ,and there is the love. i always look forward to stopping by and am grateful, most of the time, for modern tech, which allows us to share. Trying not to let rainy days and Mondays get me down. Have a great day! Xo
Hi Fran – rainy and Monday here too..These are the times when technology can serve us well, so we can commiserate and work on smiling through the clouds together..xo
Hi Mimi, your words are inspiring and giving a lot of hope on what I believe to be true. Yes some humane humans are still existing here and I am happy to arrive at your blog somehow. I am lucky. We are running for our purpose in life, great are those who care for others in any form. Like you do by your words and supporting others. Happy to know you once again.. 🙂 keep writing, keep inspiring us
Hi Dinesh, Your words touch me deeply and I am so gratified and appreciative that you are enjoying these posts. However you arrived here, I am happy – and if you are happier as a result of the visit – than I am even more thrilled. Thank you so much for visiting with me.
🙂
Oh Mimi, How wonderful that you and Lori were able to connect! I believe that I’d recognize you on the street and that you are exactly as you seem. Full of love!
Thank you so much for thinking so well of me..it was wonderful that we had the chance to connect!! Just awesome..
Nothing can be certain but even during my period away from my blog, many people visited, and I gained new followers. I like to be optimistic that my new followers are real and are following because they find the blog useful. I find your blog useful, thus I follow you.
I will choose to believe that too..
Hello,
New follower here! Thank you for your transparency and love! I look forward to reading and learning more from you 🙂
Thank you so much and welcome! I’m so happy that you’re here!
A very interesting post, Mimi. I enjoyed the description of your meeting with Lori. And am happy for you that you’ve managed to meet some of the people with whom you interchange ideas and thoughts in blog land. Probably like you, I read a lot, long before there was an internet or blogs, and usually did not get to know the writers I read. I could write them a letter now and then, and get answers too. But usually I did not know these writers personally. And when I did find out more about their intimate private lives, very often those lives were not quite as attractive as the image I imagined when reading their work. This is in part, because we have different desires and expectations when reading compared to those expectations when relating with a human being intimately. I believe there is a similar function in relating to bloggers. I’ve had both highs and lows when getting to know people personally, that I met on the internet.
I have not had the breadth of experiences that you have had Shimon, and yet I’m also sure that face-to-face meetings may not always meet our expectations. At the risk of sounding incredibly trite or contrived, I had no doubt that Lori would be all that I knew of and then some. I agree with you – our expectations are different when reading someone’s words v. meeting them. This was my first experience having life in the ether meet life day-to-day – and it was a wonderful affirming time. She is a truly beautiful, talented, loving soul.