I was raised on a farm. We were poor and each of us had to do our share of chores. I am always grateful that I was taught how to work. Ever since, I have found satifaction in being able to do a day's work...On a farm, work has a clear and visible effect. When you are digging potatoes, you see the results of your harvesting; the garden yields its buried, nurtured fruit. When you build a wall in a field, you are introducing a new presence into the landscape. If you are out footing turf on the bog, in the evening you see all the grogain of turf standing up ready to dry. There is great satisfaction in farm work. Even though it is difficult, you still see a great return for your work. When I left home, I entered the world of thought, writing and poetry. This work is in the invisible realm. When you work in the territory of the mind, you see nothing. Only sometimes are you given the slightest glimpse of the ripples from your effort. You need great patience and self-trust to sense the invisible harvest in the territory of the mind. - Anam Cara: Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World, by John O'Donohue
I just returned last night to the U.S. from my trip to Ireland and U.K. (with an overnight layover in Paris).
I've had a bit more time to think (or not think) and quietly notice and reflect.
I'm realizing how much an influence so-called 'little' things have and I'm in the midst of writing a post (or two) on the topic of legacy. This one is on ripple effects.
Only sometimes are you given the slightest glimpse of the ripples from your effort. - John O'Donohue
As I noted earlier the (unexpected) endless skies and rolling landscape of Ireland worked on my psyche gently washing away layers of gunk.
Another inspiring part of the trip was the vast number of wonderful people I met. Connections with others inspire me - meeting people all along the way, including fascinating conversations with a runner from Papua New Guinea; the teacher from Red Deer, Canada; the Israeli on his way back home via Paris from a three-month sojourn in South America, the brief chat with a Gaelic homesteader on the Dingle Peninsula and the two retired gentlemen sailors at the pub in Dalkey. A common thread of recognition occurs when bloggers meet - I was fortunate enough to meet up with bloggers Johnnie Moore in London, Elizabeth Albrecht in Versailles and very briefly Bernie Goldbach in Kilkenny. I have yet to realize precisely the effect all these people have as yet on my life. But I felt the ripples.
I read the rest of the Backpack Nation stories this morning as I realized that the deadline for voting for the top five stories (each receives $1000) is due by midnight, this Sunday, August 1st (voting info here).
And it only clicked this morning for me how much these stories really have seeped into my consciousness and my imagination over the last month or so. As a writer myself (among other things), I often tend to discount the effect of the written word. But these stories have deeply influenced me and catalyzed some ideas for my own personal future direction.
While writing my post a month ago on evangelism, I was thinking about what my blog really evangelizes. It probably really comes down to:
People Matter (and What Matters to People Sells). A Corollary: We're all kindred spirits and there's a core set of universal values that bond and motivate us.
There are seven stories left (I'll continue the Story a Day theme next week) but wanted to highlight some of them now in case you may be voting this weekend. Most of these stories are about unexpected and deep one-to-one connections with others. A great many are about realizing dreams and quite a few are lessons in entrepreneurial perserverance. The stories are striking because they are almost all written from the heart - they're fundamentally about people, the nature of friendship and the realization of how blessed and privileged we really are. In fact, I've come to appreciate how much blogging itself is a privilege in many countries where access to computers, telecommunications and/or governmental censorship issues are genuine obstacles.
Even the poorest among us can create significant ripple effects...as the priceless influences in our lives aren't monetary. And as far as financial resources, if you've read these stories closely you've noticed that even $12.50 does a lot of good in many parts of the world. Reading all 20 stories I noted how most of the authors are already underway with their ideas and projects without waiting for the $1000 prize money.
The Gift of Beggars underscores my own philosophy that we are all kindred spirits. It's wonderful that the author is also contributing to Duyen Van Do's micro-enterprise and micro-lending project. (BTW, Duyen contacted me while I was on vacation - more on that later. His story is one of my own top 5 votes.)
Afternoon Medical Clinic at the Starfish Cafe is another story of social entrepreneurship; more information about the Starfish Cafe in Cambodia.
Lesson in Humility muses about the character of charity and philantropy. People are quite adept at achieving their own dreams when given a chance and its also my own preference to teach a man to fish than give him a fish.
A Global Health Odyssey is particularly interesting in its innovatively simple solution to providing health to remote areas and the author's ability to raise over $100,000 thus far for his project.
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