Ten Minute Missive

A truly great a person I follow on Twitter tweets incognito. She does this because she is an editor with one of the Big Publishers and so incognito is the way to go. Although I can’t help but think she’d get lots and lots of chocolate/booze/flowers/et cetera if people knew how to actually get them to her. But I understand and actually find her avatar so stinking cute that I’m glad she is only an adorable forehead surrounded by books. Sometimes, mysterious is really fun. Also, if NYCEditorGal is reading this, I’ll make good on the chocolate someday. I pinkie swear.

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As I sat down to string a few words together, some television staples of my childhood came to mind. Imagine my surprise when I realized that it is no longer a week in review happening over there at PBS. Of course, since I stopped watching tv in 1995, I really shouldn’t be surprised that I missed Washington Week’s name change back in 1999.

According to seemingly all school-children’s favorite on-line source, Wikipedia, the name change signifies the current host’s desire to look forward and not just behind. And I can see the marketability of such a move, painting yourself as forward-thinking and all that. But there is also something to be said for reviewing what has just passed. For without reviewing one’s course, how can one ever accurately adjust one’s sails to meet the next headwind?

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Between hearing a young friend has a healthy baby boy after an emergency C-Section and the upcoming day of Thanksgiving, I’m feeling both thankful and thoughtful. And whenever I get thoughtful before noon, things are likely to get random. Because as we all know, I earned the nickname “The Random Ah” for good reason. Some thankful-for-worthy things that are flitting through my head and in no particular order because that is the way they flit, are as follows:

1. Holey moley, thank goodness that all three of my kiddos were born healthy and aside from some at-the-time scary or interesting bits, their arrivals into this world were absolutely mundane in their normalness.
2. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday because it is about being together in community rather than giving and receiving stuff. Love that. So. Much. Read more…

I have over 100 people I talk with, laugh with, cry with, be with throughout the day  because of Twitter and Facebook.  And every tweet or status  update or link shared connects me with people I could never spend as much time with using the “normal” avenues of phone calls, letters, and coffee klatches.  So I think my “cyber” friendships are very, very important.  And today I was reminded that the larger your pool of interaction, the more of the pendulum’s arc you experience.

One friend is excited about her upcoming wedding.  Another struggling through a divorce.

One shares her positive pregnancy test.  Another  her miscarriage.

One is building a new house.  Another is picking up the debris of a tornado.

One friend types “The End” on the latest book.  Another giving up a dream.

Today I am reminded that the pendulum swings, indeed must swing, from one side to another.  And that when all feels lost and hopeless, this is today.  Tomorrow the lost will be found and hope refilled.

The Yin cannot exist without the Yang.

May we all find ways to add people to journey beside.  A hundred candles flickering in the dark can illuminate even the darkest path.

I’m one of those folks that likes social media.  A whole bunch.  And my favorite is Twitter.  Twitter has become my “water cooler” of sorts – a place I have filled with folks who share many of my interests and pursuits.  Through Twitter I have “met” both in my cyber-world and IRL (in real life) lots of people who are interested in the same stuff I am today.  And that is great.

I have tried to explain Twitter to non-Tweeters and it never quite translates.  I’ve thought about why some folks like me L.O.V.E. Twitter and others are just “meh” about it and my only explanation comes down to this:  it’s all about community.  Some people are just more comfortable bellying up to the bar, so to speak, and making conversation.  The introvert may find a Twitter community a refreshing experience, while the extrovert may be frustrated. And reverse.

For me, the best part has been connecting with other writers, both Young Adult and non-YA writers.  My Twitter is like the perfect table in the cafeteria’s lunchroom.  A collection of great people who support one another in the ways they can.  Need a great recipe for lasagna?  I did and three of my Tweeps sent me theirs.  Need a hotel recommendation?  Restaurant recommendation?  Advice on bullying?  These are the kinds of tweets I share with my tweeps and then some.

And now, especially, I am thankful for my Twitter cafeteria table full of friends. I am heading out of the country tomorrow and instead of worrying about this blog and trying to find wi-fi and all those other bits of bloggery, all I have to worry about is the flight over, back, the train schedules, the subways, losing my passport and other such things.

Starting on Monday, there will be five guest blog posts here.  They are all my Twitter friends (well, I’ve known one for 32 years) and they all graciously agreed to write a blog post for me.

So please come back on Mondays and Fridays and read what my friends have written.  Their posts are a great mix of funny and serious, observations on parenting and life.  I cannot wait to read your comments!

And Twitter?  Thanks for having my back.