Global Communities Award - The World is Getting Smaller

My friend, Francis, owner of Caught in the Stream, passed on this new award to me. He has Hanna to thank for this honor. I like this one because it definitely encapsulates the impact of blogging on my life. When I started LifePrints I never imagined how many doors it would open around the world, how many friendships I'd make, or how it would make the world feel so small and intimate.

As for the world, instant access to news, streaming video feeds, fast airplanes, and the unfettered opinions of bloggers are causing us a few growing pains. Sometimes we don't know how to process all the information. There are too many causes, too many voices crying out in the dark.

But there is an upside to our new global closeness. Just as problems become more immediate and intimate (an example yesterday was the burning of the US embassy over the independence of Kosovo. So far away but so close at the same time), solutions and problems solvers can be quickly implemented and identified. That is if they are willing to step forward to offer their services. I do worry that the Internet has spawned a revolution of talking instead of doing.

In my life, blogging has definately brought this point home. I have lots of big ideas but how often did I do anything about them? Not often. Articulating them on this blog through the stories of the accomplishments of others was a start but soon it wasn't enough. I reached a critcal mass of information. I had to do something about all that I'd learned.

Now, I'm in the phase of networking with other bloggers, working at the grassroots level for a candidate I believe in, and speaking my mind when I get the chance. And when I begin to promote my new book I hope to use it as a platform to discuss the state of foster care in our country.

I feel part of the global community. Blogging was the catalyst for my revelation. I'd like to recognize a few blogging friends from around the world who are intregal parts of "my" global community.

August, an inspiring friend from Denmark.

Lisa, an American ex-pat in France.

Wen, a beautiful woman living in Malta.

Anna, my photographer friend in Canada.

Peter, my insightful friend from Australia.

Thank you for showing me the world through your eyes. Every correspondence with you is priceless.