Tissue -thin, whisper-blue stationery covered neatly in the blackest of ink. Her penmanship was perfect and ever-so grown up compared to my own loopy scrawl. This delicate correspondence arrived, posted with interesting stamps, from my writing friend, Norma, who was the daughter of my mother's own pen pal.
Norma's letters came to me from faraway London, a place that spoke to my young heart in queenly terms but with Dickensian imaginary. As if from some fairy tale granting wishes, each thin envelope traveled over the wide, wide sea from her house in England to mine in Florida.
I could not wait to answer Norma's letter with one of my own.
In my imagination I saw our letters traveling on the wind, swooping
across ocean waves and dancing under full moons and twinkling stars.
The letters would be untouched by human hands.
For me the content came second to the process as is sometimes the way of the world. Using my own fat ink pen, which required a non-refillable cartridge, was dreamy. After spilling my wildest dreams and strongest hopes onto the blank pages I felt so satisfied with life.
Posting my letter seemed almost an afterthought.
After weeks and months of time skipping, hopping, and dragging by I would forget about my mailed letter. I was young and time meant nothing at all but school and play. Then, out of the clear Florida sky, there would be a letter waiting for me on our kitchen table. A letter from halfway around the world. A letter from Norma.
Well, naturally you can understand that we wrote mostly about boys.
Boys this and boys that. A bit of fashion here and a dash of school there. As time did its thing, Norma and I became teenagers and our letters described music and the boys who made it.
"Can you believe his hair, somepinkflowers?" Norma would write.
"I so love it!" I would write back.
Rock music rolled around the world and Norma and I finally had the same boys to talk about.
Over the years we exchanged letters, forgetting about each other during the long in-between times.
One of Norma's last letters gushed love and hope for the boy the man she was about to marry. I was in
college at the time and my life seemed stretched out before me with all
imagined things blooming with possibility.
I have no idea what happened next. I am sure that I must have written back with congratulations. But then what?
When I started blogging about 18 months ago I was so clueless about the way that it would change the shape and size of my world. It might take hours to fly to Europe but only moments to send an email and have it be received.
No tissue -thin, whisper-blue stationery here on my desk these days. No fat ink pen requiring a non-refillable cartridge. Still I send out my thoughts in my own fashion.
I set up my blog, my somepinkflowers, and released it to the universe.
"Go forth and bloom," I sang to my blog, pushing it out of the comfy nest. "Go have some*grand*fun in the world. Go!"
Then I danced from blog to blog. I tasted words and art and photographs from all around the world. The internet became my Whitman's Sampler of cultural treats. How indulgent, I know.
Miles apart, states and mountains and even oceans apart, I have connected with other bloggers in the most amazing manner. We have Earl Grey or chia or coffee together in various time zones around the world, sometimes several days apart.
Don't ask me to say that again or to explain it more. We just do and it works out fine. Trust me.
Unlike pen pal letters that historically took that infamous Slow Boat to China, blogging correspondence happens at the speed of light, or maybe at the speed of over night.
" This is the best book. I think you might like it," a friend writes one morning from her west coast home.
"Great, I will put that on hold at the library," I answer the next day from over here on my side of the world.
And I do put it on reserve. And it is the best book. And I just might have never known.
We bloggers are all so polite and attentive with each other because life is fun and we are truly interested. There is such a randomness to life and here we are all blundering around in the big sea of the world, teeny starfish with big eyes taking it all in but floating on and on through all the things we have to do.
I do not want to miss a thing and neither do a ton of other bloggers. Or so it would seem.
Like-minded bloggers somehow find each other out there in the cosmos. And sometimes we give things away to each other because we can. Because why not.
"If you would like to win this gift, this prize, then just leave a comment," bloggers invite to the universe. "Just let me know if you want this book, this drawing, little amazing thing I made with my own two hands and I will put your name into the hat."
And so we do.
We try for the prize knowing we have already won because life is grand.
So look what happened to me over at Organized Doodles because I put my name in the hat. I took the chance for a surprise.
I know. Oh, my goodness! Is it me? Could it be?
Rick has captured my spirit for all the world to see to imagine over there on his blog. [As I am rather camera shy, I was a bit of a challenge for this clever artist-blogger but isn't it fun! I wish I could do that.]
"See what happens when you accept the invitation from some weird stranger that visits your blog asking you to sign up for his little contest?" Rick explains in a weird-but-nice-stranger kind of way.
Right on, Rick. But you don't know the half of it. Invitations can show you the world.
One day last fall I received an invitation from eb to attend The Bloglandia Ball to celebrate the full moon on September 26th. This party took place on blogs scattered here and there around the world.
Yes, I said around the world. Go figure!
Glorious food, music to suit every taste and the most amazing dresses I have ever seen were all featured at The Bloglandia Ball. About 85 blogger attended the ball which lasted almost two days.
An interact internet happening. A group sharing of artistic talents in one contained timespan.
Want more information about the Bloglandia Ball? Want to see how one seed can sprout and wind its way into the imagination of many?
Well, I am not sure if I am should say too much this early. I am not positive if the magazine is even available on the newsstand quite yet BUT when you can, do purchase the Spring 2008 issue of Artful Blogging Magazine and turn to page 130.
Featured there you will find the story of an idea that blossomed in one creative heart and grew and grew and grew. Then turn to page 118 and read more inspirational bits about eb and her be...dream...play... ways.
From tissue-thin, whisper-blue pen pal stationery I have traveled on to computer blogging with scanned art and uploaded photographs. While I miss my fat ink pen, I love my spell check when I remember to use it.
Still, all in all, in the randomness of life, in the big sea of the world, I do not want to miss a thing. I am so pleased with my faraway friends, how ever they may reach out to me.
Where does your blogging take you? Does it take you around the world and back before bedtime? Was just wondering...
oh spf...
pen pals... sigh...
and Schaeffer pens (got some for Boone and our journaling - love them more now than then)
where does my blogging take me?
well............
my blogging takes me right over here to your palm tree and year-round Converse world to settle in for the very best stories...
and to many of those red lettered destinations...
out into the snowy landscape for just one more winter white...
and into the warm and cozy heart of
somepinkflowers...
what ever in the world did I do before
being, dreaming and playing?
more yoga?
xox - eb.
Posted by: eb | January 26, 2008 at 11:50 AM
........ oh and that "doodle" of Rick's is amazing - just how I imagine you - running... curls waving in the wind of your speedy Chucks...
just wonderful spf...
xox - eb.
Posted by: eb | January 26, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Ahhhhhh dear spf....as I sit with my chai, yes going visiting around the world I am content...so happy....you pluck the thoughts right out of my head and put them down in words that sing.
we are a lucky tribe here and some of your friends here are new to me, so please excuse me while I go introduce myself.
x...x!!
steph
Posted by: stephanie | January 26, 2008 at 04:58 PM
Thanks B-a'roo for your kind words and the link to my display of vanity. I really did enjoy doing your piece and I am so very glad that you liked my very first little giveaway.
Posted by: Rick Green | January 26, 2008 at 10:23 PM
That may have been the best field trip of all! The laws of nature do seem to hold even in Blogland. There are people and places we are meant to meet.
Posted by: vallen Queen | January 26, 2008 at 11:13 PM
Just the colors in these photos are enough to make me smile, but then the words, oh the words....
Such a lovely post reminding us of how far the blogging world takes us, in our minds, hearts, souls.
I didn't know about Artful Blogging--looks fabulous!
Posted by: Michelle | Bleeding Espresso | January 27, 2008 at 06:38 AM