The Proverbial Bridge

Patti left me a comment. She wrote, “I don’t know if you “do” awards, but I have one for you on Thursday’s blog if interested.”

When I read her comment, I chuckled to myself. Who doesn’t appreciate a kind word? Who doesn’t appreciate a special nod, letting you know that what you do makes a difference in the life of someone else?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not equating a nod from a friend to curing Polio or winning the Nobel prize. However, if you are able to make someone smile, help him/her get through a rough day, or just give someone’s stress filled mind a bit of respite for a moment or two, is that not something to appreciate?

Still, the fact that Patti came out of the gate realizing someone may not ‘do’ awards tells me awards are a mixed blessing. Generally speaking, we want the nod, but we don’t want the obligation of passing the award on to others. Perhaps – just maybe – the awards are seen as a chain-letter of sorts, promising good luck and good fortune, provided you forward the gift to X number of friends within a certain time frame.

Is it OK that I am talking about the elephant in the room? Wait. Am I the only one that sees the elephant?

I appreciate the kind words. I do. I write and tell stories, because I enjoy writing and telling stories. By the same token, if my stories fell on deaf ears, my joy would be lessened.

Knowing my stories are being read makes me happy. Knowing my stories are being read and enjoyed makes me happier.

So, why the grumbling? Am I grumbling? I don’t mean to grumble. Nor am I trying to burn any bridges. I have no matches or lighters in my pocket, as I walk across the bridges within the blogosphere. Promise.

As I mentioned earlier, Patti included me in the list of recipients she selected for the Kreativ Blogger award. Over a week ago, Arindam included me in his list of recipients for the 7 X 7 Links Award.

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The Kreativ Blogger award comes with the hope the recipient will share a bit about his/herself, while passing the Kreative torch to other bloggers within the blogosphere.

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The 7 X 7 award comes with the hope the recipient will select and share 7 posts previously published covering 7 different categories, as well as selecting 7 fellow bloggers to carry the 7 X 7 torch.

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As Patti stated in her acceptance speech, “It’s a great opportunity for community building…”, and I agree 100%. I guess the part gives me pause is the use of the word ‘award’.

One need not be given an award to build a community, one need only reach out, listen and share. When an award is given, I fear the ‘requirement’ to pass it to others takes away from the spontaneity of creating and sharing. Finding the words and finding the time to capture the words is difficult enough; wouldn’t you agree?

Am I saying too much? Are my subscribers leaving me in droves?

Through word of mouth, rather – through words, I have found an overwhelming number of wonderful bloggers. With every visit I make to one blog, I end up spending several minutes exploring other blogs by way of the comments left by prior visitors.

Sometimes, someone new comes and visits my neighborhood and leaves a comment on my welcome mat. When I receive a new visitor, I make a point to go visit him/her in his/her neighborhood. Sometimes we become repeat/frequent visitors, always leaving a note on the welcome mat letting him/her know we stopped by for a visit. Sometimes we don’t become repeat/frequent visitors.

I like tripping over similar words and tumbling into new friendships bloggerships within the blogosphere. I enjoy the exploration and excitement of meeting another teller of stories. And for me, sometimes, when I find something I want to share with others, I will write about a specific blogger or post. I don’t wait for awards or links to share what I think is worthy of sharing.

Goodness, I sure sound grumbly, eh? Enter Bill.

While exploring the comments of others left on someone’s blog, I found Bill. Bill is a 56 yr old man battling cancer. He’s been blogging for years, though I’ve only started reading his posts within the past several months. Recently, I read his post titled, “An example of how to LIVE”. In his post he writes of his friend, Mel, who is also battling Cancer.

From Bill’s post I took away the message that we should appreciate the time we have, in addition to appreciating the time others give us. We’re all here for a limited time. We all have choices on how we spend our time.

I may not play by the rules of the blogging awards, and I may not post the images of the awards on my blog site. But, I will extend a thank you. And, I will let the giver of the nod know that I appreciate his/her time.

Thank you, Patti of A New Day Dawns and Arindam of Being Arindam. I appreciate you spending your time with me. And, I appreciate you taking the time to share my blog with others.

UPDATE: In addition to Patti and Arindam, I want to thank AriRambles. I just received a note from Ari, letting me know he nominated me for the Liebster Award. Thank you, Ari! I am grateful you spent time here and felt my blog was worth sharing.