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Shining Dots

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Connecting dots with The Idea Dude’s Friend

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My friend Vernon Lun, the Idea Dude, made this weekly column fill with light. Not only was he

“Touched by the stories I read, inspired by the words of giants, I wanted the world to know these stories, these words. And most of all, these people. Ordinary people, like you and me but so special because they gave us gifts through their blogs every day. The gifts? their voices, their thoughts, their hearts.”

but he touched our thoughts and hearts as well with what he wrote.

That’s some act to follow.

Do any of us know our value?

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I met Vern talking about SOBCon07. and as I come to know the man, The Idea Dude, I stand in awe of his humility. Vern says, We never think of what it is about ourselves that make us remarkable, Does he know he is talking about himself?

I hear his heart shine in his words.

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I turn around and in my mind’s eye I see Rodney Rumford late at Open Comment Night with a new idea he bringing to life. The pictures tell Rodney’s story. I wonder does he know that’s it’s his joy that makes him so attractive?

Life twinkles in his eyes.

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And driving in a red Ferrari are Glenda and Mike, while Chris, and Tim, and Joe throw Klondike bars and wait patiently for a chance to hit the dance floor.

How do they make sun shine when they want to?

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And Char, and Marti, and Becky, and Susan, and Connie, and AnnOhio doing cartwheels. They add the rainbow colors in the way they tease.

No need for a Second Life when the first one glitters so.

So, it’s as you said, Vern, “It is really just the end of the beginning.”

You started something brightly shining, and shining dots are a wonder!
The dots will be here with your initials on every one . . .

May the dots be with all of us!

Liz Strauss, Friend of the Idea Dude

Dot . Dot . Dot .

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Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

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2007 has been the Year of the Blog for me. My passion to promote blogs and bloggers was the catalyst for the TheGoodBlogs. My mission was really very simple. Touched by the stories I read, inspired by the words of giants, I wanted the world to know these stories, these words. And most of all, these people. Ordinary people, like you and me but so special because they gave us gifts through their blogs every day. The gifts? their voices, their thoughts, their hearts.

Then I met Liz. Who can refuse the most simplest of invitations. Can we talk? From that conversation, I was drawn into a much larger community, SOBCON, the conference that taught us that blogging is about bloggers, relationships and conversations. Hope to see you there this year!.

Undoubtedly the highlight for me would be receiving the keys to this blog. It wasn’t about sharing a soapbox, it was about sharing a warm cozy living room where the best conversations could be found. Right here, every Sunday, we connected dots. Each dot, a blogger, connected with others through words of wisdom, joy, sadness and every other emotion possible. I felt like a treasure hunter, delighting in every gem I found, eager to share each one with you.

Alas this will be the last connecting dots post for a while. Is this the end? Hopefully not, but it is a pause as I need to step back to figure out where the next part of this journey should take.

Successful-blog remains one of my favorite blogs just as Liz will always be one favorite bloggers. This blog like its host has become a constant in my blogging life. So you’ll see me in the comments and open-mic night. Why? because this is where my friends hang out, where the conversation is always great, where the laughter is infectious, where the hearts are bigger and the brains are smarter… and where I know I belong.

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

Dots resolving to change

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Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

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December for me is a great time to take stock of what I managed to achieve during this year and then look at all the things that perhaps fell through the cracks or activities I could have managed better. New Year Resolutions for me aren’t radical changes but adjustments that I remind myself to make over time.

Resolving to succeed

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Ben’s right about most of the resolutions we make each year. They never seem to last, fading as fast as the winter sun. Most resolutions are about ourselves and how we think we should be or could be better. I think we often look at ourselves and find the things we dislike the most. Then by uttering a few magic words wrapped in a bow called a New Year resolution, we hope they will go away. Of course they don’t.

Resolving to choose wisely

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Choosing resolutions that have some hope of making a making difference to us must have all of the following ingredients.

  • It must matter to us. It can’t be something copied from someone because it sounded good and altruistic.
  • It must be measurable. Anything that isn’t measurable in a tangible or meaningful has no hope of succeeding like starting a journey without knowing where it will end.
  • We must enjoy doing it. Motivation is generally fueled by the emotion that something we do makes us feel so good, we want to keep doing it.
  • The changes we make should impact those around us. Because our momentum is increased by their feedback and their well-being.

Resolving to change positively

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What is a resolution really but a commitment to change oneself and all around us in a positive way. Liz has the best advice about how to make positive changes stick. She’s right of course when she says, When you make a positive change that sticks, other positive things will happen too.

Resolving to be kinder to ourselves

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Angela reminds us to be kinder to ourselves. What a wonderful idea. We do tend to beat ourselves up for not doing something or not doing enough of other things. At the end of the day, we are all human with frailties and failings. But we are also endowed with character that helps we look forward to just being a little better than the day before.

Being kinder to ourselves makes us kinder to others too!
This is my wish for all of us.

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

A Song of Dots

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Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

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A blog is a chain
Isabella inspired this week’s ponderings. She graciously translated a song and this verse opened its wings with a roar.

my song is a chain
without beginning, without an end,
and every link contains
the song of everyone else.

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A blog is an opportunity for dialogue. The blog post is merely the catalyst, the light in the window that invites us in. So is the blog not like Isabella’s song, a chain without beginning or end and every link contains the song of everyone else? A conversation with no end, with many threads leading in and leading out.

A blog is a mirror
Here’s another translation, this time, lovingly done by Bhaswati.

I saw my reflection
In your eyes.
You revealed yourself to me
By emerging from within me.

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Often we reflect upon each other’s writings and sometimes our thinking is born in the posts of others? It is a blessing, to have access a million thoughts in the hopes that one will inspire. Then while searching for one, we find ten. A cry of hope emerges and with it the epiphany that we are not alone.

As my good friend Liz says on this very blog. Sometimes I think that everything I know has been set to music somewhere.

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

In the Company of Dots

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Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

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I overheard the following conversation…

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Liz: Whoa! Look around us! Everyone is so . . . busy. We almost can’t see each other. What’s wrong with enjoying the folks we care about as we move through our lives?

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Phil: Surely, we can draw on others to help us make it great. Albert Schweitzer said…At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

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Lisa: I agree. As you wander around the blogiverse you find remarkable and passionate people expressing their deepest values as an offer to you. They intrinsically link their core values to every post, every action, every gesture.

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Glenda: Iteraction is where the magic of blogging occurs and, sometimes, it can be quite amazing. That is why I blog the way I do.

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Mike: Every new interaction is a gift. People who believe in this model of universal reflection of gifts are setting themselves up to be delighted again and again! Doesn’t that sound like a good life investment strategy?

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Rick: If we have felt something, if we have thought something, there is at least one other person in the world who has felt or thought something similar, if not the same thing. We are their voice, as well as our own. We are never alone.

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Liz: A truly successful and outstanding blog also has meaning. Somehow, in some way to each individual, it makes a difference by adding something of value to being one who visits. You might call that spirit. You might call that direction or focus. I call that soul.

So what was unique about this conversation? It didn’t happen over the dinner table. It didn’t even happen in the same point in time.

Instead it was a synergy of thinking stretching across time and space.
Spanning months of blogging, the thoughts flocked here to Toronto from different states and different cities. From Chicago, Virginia, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Wisconsin.

That is way cool to be in the company of greatness!
May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

Dots of Wonder and Light

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Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

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This week’s dots are about children. Ergo, it is about intelligence, curiosity, wonderment, humour, determination and everything they do so naturally. They are the best dots.

Dream like an 8 year old

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Matt over at The Digital Perm started me on this theme. He says, That is why kids just rock. Everything is possible.

Be curious like a child

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Pam reminds us that we need to regain our child-like perspective As adults we get so lost in day to day adult issues. We forget to pause for the wonderful moments in life. She says, When my son was just toddler I remember him picking up leaves and investigating them as if they were the coolest things ever.
Ever spend an afternoon with a 5 year old. The most common word you’re likely to hear is “why?”. They are like sponges, for them there is no limit, there is no sky. They want to know. Why? Just because.

Impossible is not a word

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Christina tells us in the most beautiful way of her child learning to jump. You’ve got to appreciate her determination. She doesn’t understand why she can’t get off the floor, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.

Laugh longer, laugh often

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Michele reminds us that children laugh more than we do. Did you know children laugh about 400 times a day, while adults laugh on average only 15 times a day?

This week it snowed in the city. I thought of sludge, ice and traffic jams. For my 13 year-old, the first thing that came to her mind that resulted a smile so wide, it warmed my heart the whole day long?

Snowballs!

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude