I wasn’t going to write today. I woke up to freezing temperatures and a yard of wilting plants. But then I checked my phone and found love in the Twitter feed.
I melted into tears. I’ve know Leigh Anne virtually for years. We’ve visited each other’s blogs. We’ve exchanged teaching ideas. One summer I did a Google Hang-out with a summer writing class she was teaching. But we’ve never met in person. To think that my words could be so inspiring to someone I’ve never met face to face just boggles my mind.
My friend, Julieanne, wrote today about her cyber-bubble, those people we hang out with virtually through Twitter and Facebook, Voxer and Blogger. In this world, I’ve met some of the most precious people on earth. I have come to call them friends.
In this daily struggle to understand what the hell we are doing here, my online community holds me together, grounds me, helps me to see what is truly important.
My OLW this year is Cherish. Leigh Anne coined the term Cherishment. I cherish all of you who click over to this space and read and comment and otherwise spread the love. Please take a minute to go to Leigh Anne’s blog today. She made a poem from comments on my blog. I plan to print the poem and keep it close.
On Wednesday this week, my body revolted. I had a violent and mean stomach virus. Along with cherishing others this year, I want to cherish my own body. I hated it with a passion on Wednesday, but a miracle shot from my trusted physician made it all better.
Today, I was encouraged by a friend to attend a yoga class. I haven’t done yoga in a while and was worried about how my body would work. The instructor calmed me throughout and by the end of the session, I was weeping. Cherish seems to lead me to tears. I was overwhelmed by the feeling of peace and the comfort. This feeling calls for a healing haiku.