DAY 8: DEAR INTERNET FRIENDS (THAT MEANS YOU)

Dear Internet Friends,

I am writing this to all of you because I can't pick out just one of you. I suppose I will start with those of you who have been with me since the beginning.

Becky at Farmgirl Paints, I thank you for spending some time emailing me about how to set my blog up so that it looked halfway decent. Blogger is a mystery to me. I say that present tense because it is still a mystery to me. I would like to have tabs at the top of my page, but I can't figure out how to do it, and have finally give up. I have gotten along fine without, so I guess it's okay.

Tracy at Res Ipsa Loquitur, thank you for more page help. However, that has been minor compared to the wonderful comments you leave. You have always been very supportive. I, too, think we would make great friends if we lived closer. I want to take another moment to encourage you to pursue your acting career full tilt. If I said I have this feeling that things are about to click into place for you.... I just feel good things happening for you. I also want to let you know that I have been thinking about your comment on Muslims and the Qur'an. I can see that if I had been born Muslim, and gotten an opportunity to emigrate to Western Civilization, I would take it. Muslims do not treat their women well. I know me and I know that I would leave at the first opportunity, because I mentally couldn't embrace all of the violent passages of the Qur'an. However, after getting where you are going, you are free. It is very difficult to just shrug off the religion you were born into, so you take what you like and leave the rest. However, I stand behind that video in terms of understanding Muslims who do hold with the Qur'an in its entirety. They are the people strapping bombs to themselves, determined to make every country Muslim, and hide behind the people who escaped a country, and belief system that they felt was toxic. One of the things I appreciate most about our friendship is that we can talk about these kinds of things without getting angry with one another.

Purple Cow at Australian in Athens, you are such a deep thinker that sometimes you make my head hurt. I know that you write like you do because you don't want to talk about the stuff that really bothers you. I am smarter than you think I am. Every now and then it gangs up on you, overwhelms you, and comes out, even though you'd rather it not, and I end up crying my eyes out, because you blasted me unexpectedly by showing me your heart instead of your smart. For a couple of days I was really angry with you. It was right after you posted that blog about ending your blog on your first anniversary. Lucy March posted in her blog that, "Anger is what happens when our reality differs from our expectations." That pretty much nailed it. I know that we are friends on facebook, but it isn't the same. I don't know anything about you by looking at your facebook page and you know less about me. I rarely post a status. Right now, we know each other better than most of the people we see daily. Trying to know what you are thinking via facebook will be like standing outside your house, and looking through the keyhole of your front door. So, I was angry. Now, I am resigned. I don't know why I thought bloggers would blog forever. That was really stupid. People leave. Of course they do. Just know that when the day comes, you will be missed.

Chris over at A Deliberate Life, thank you for commenting on just about everything with something insightful. I admire your dedication, resolve, and all of the ways that you are inspirational with your writing. I like how you say the same thing in several different ways over the course of a week or a month so that different people will finally "get it." Even though I am not on a weight loss journey, I learn something reading your blog every day. I get inspiration there each time you write something. You are doing something important just by posting. You always have a boatload of comments indicating that very thing. You keep writing and I will keep reading. Robin Out.

Linda at Bar Mitzvahzilla, thank you for writing the funniest blogs. I suppose the source of the hilarity is you, your family, and the way you weave the story. Whenever you post something I look forward to reading it, because everyone needs a good laugh. As an aside, that isn't to say that you haven't tricked me sometimes and hit me with a serious and made me cry. Of course, that was raw, real, as honest as it comes, and I loved it. So, I am registering no complaints.

Liza over at Middle Passages, thank you for letting me bathe in your words when I visit your blog. You pick the juiciest words to flavor your narratives. Your posts are never too sweet or too salty. We have traveled the city and the countryside. Once we got lazy and took a nap in your driveway and nearly scared your neighbor to death. I say we, because I always feel like I am right there with you on each of your tales. Thank you for allowing me to tag along. It has been so much fun.

Kate over at The Cow Jumped Over The Moon, thank you for the encouragement and lovely compliments. Thanks to you, I have seen some very interesting photos, discovered some equally interesting words for some of the items in said photos, and have seen many interesting Boston landmarks. In addition, I know more about Boston sports than I ever thought I would, as well as the Boston sports enthusiast. They are a rare breed. They = You in this scenario, I think. Hmmmm. I also want to give you a bit of encouragement about... well, everything... your painting will get done, your personal life will get better, your career will click. All of these things just need time to fall into place. But they will happen. Of course, they all require some doing on your part, but they will happen. It all seems so overwhelming and huge right now, but it won't always be that way. I promise.

Bath over at memento mori, thank you for being you. I know that life feels like it has nothing good left in it for you. You feel sometimes like it has sucked you dry and all the good is gone. It isn't true, but it feels that way a lot. Too much. There are people who appreciate you, but they have their own lives, and you want someone in your life as a partner, and not just a friend. I wish I could tell you that it will happen, but I can't predict the future. I can tell you that you have a better chance of it happening if you can start visualizing it. I know you. You just turned off. Try this. Just think about all of the qualities of the person you would like to have in your life. Write them down. Focus on that. Knowing who you want makes it easier for you to know her when you see her. I want you to have someone who is a good fit for you. I really want to see you happy.

Gabriela at enjoy the silence, thank you for calling me brilliant. I am not, by the way, but it is always nice to hear. You have so much potential inside of you. It is all just buzzing around inside of you wanting to get out. It is just waiting for you to decide what you really want to do with yourself, and then all of that creative energy is going to explode out of you. I think that when you let it out, you will be so happy working in a field that you love. As for right now, I can see such a difference in the you that I first met and the you that you are now. You are thisclose to believing in yourself. When you believe in yourself even a quarter as much as I believe in you, your life is going to become so good. Believe that!!!

Ro Magnolia at Soft Winds and Roses, thank you for the uplifting comments at just the right times. I know that you have had so much going on at home with your feline brood. I hope and pray that everything will get back onto a more peaceful track for you soon. We miss you here in the blogosphere.

Mitzi at Southern Style, thank you for being a friend. That sounds like the lead-in to The Golden Girls. You have always left thoughtful comments and even tagged me once with a thoughtful video. I know that your life is in a bit of chaos right now. You might not even read this because you are taking some time to listen to your heart and be quiet in the stillness. I just want you to know that your blogs always embrace topic matter that makes a person search their heart and mind in order to find where they stand. I love how big your heart is and how much you care about this world. I know that when you are ready, you will be back, and you will share all that you learned while you were on "sabbatical."

Carol the Gardener, thank you for all of the kindness that you have shown me. You are new to my blog and already I am blown away by your generosity of spirit. I know that you have medical issues of your own, so that makes you more empathetic to mine. You don't know this but a while back I posted a blog called Compassion Vs. Empathy, and you are proof (sort of) that people who understand pain, because they live with it, are empathetic to other people in pain. They automatically reach out a hand, and want to help, because they know what suffering is, because they live with it. Of course, there is the other possibility that you could have been just as kind without the pain. I think you would have had compassion, but not the level of understanding that you have. As it is, this will be your gift. You will always have a bigger heart, a more generous spirit, a willingness to help when others when others wouldn't think to help. It may not seem like much, but to the people on the receiving end it, it is Everything.

Shoes at Red Shoes Chronicles, thank you for sharing your story and all of the comments since. You are a good person with a kind spirit, and if you are still holding on to any part of the past, you need to let it go. I am saying forgive yourself, if you haven't already. You did the best you could at the time. As for now, we all have our good points and our bad ones. Focus on your good ones. Decide that you want to let the bad ones go. Don't give them any more of your attention. Our mind is an amazing thing. You have had enough of the bad in this life. It is time to invite the good in. Open the door and allow it to come in. I am rooting for you on this. I know you can do it. In fact, I think you might already be there. If so, love with an open hand and heart.

Kim at Saving My Life, honey your life is crazy right now. Just know that I am rooting for you and your happiness, whatever that is. You are making big decisions right now. It is not just a heart decision; it is a head decision. What is the smart thing to do? What is best for me? What is best for my children? You have a bunch of people supporting you no matter what you decide. That is a lot of love.

Yenta Mary the Food Floozie... you know I don't cook much anymore, but you keep me on anyway. You give great comment and you even email me sometimes if you think I need it. And I do need it occasionally! I read your blogs even though I don't cook, because occasionally you throw in some non-cooking narrative that tickles my funny bone or is just plain interesting. Plus, we do have some things in common. Well, you're Jewish and I'm not. You have a son and I don't have any kids (biologically, that is). You're seriously dating someone and I'm not. You're a chef and I don't really cook. Oh yeah, we're both divorced. I knew I'd find something in there. And they were both verbal abusers. Now we're on a roll. Whew. Anyway, thanks for being such a wonderful person and friend.

Miss Angie at My So-Called Chaos, thank you for introducing me to this letter thing. I was on a blogtheraphy mission that had started a couple of weeks prior and this fit into my plan. It has been excellent therapy. I have cried through several of these letters. That has literally meant hours of crying, which hasn't been so great for my migraines, but has been spectacular for my therapy. It has been like my post yesterday on Tears for Fears with the song SHOUT. It has kinda been like that. " Shout, shout, let it all out, These are the things I can do without, Come on, I'm talking to you, Come on." I have enjoyed reading your letters and stealing all of your graphics for my letters. I am confessing to laziness. So, thank you for the idea and the pictures. I've also enjoyed getting to know you a bit better.

Love,
Robin

P.S. Okay, well I am sure that I have forgotten someone important. However, I am exhausted. My fingers hurt from typing. The thing is this: if I follow you, I appreciate you. If I am leaving you comments, I am reading your blog. So, keep doing what you're doing. You not getting a paragraph here only means that my migraine is kicking up (it is) and my memory is starting to go in and out (that is one of the crimes of the migraine). It also means I really want to turn off the light and lie down. So.... I need to spell check and upload my graphic and then I am outta here for a while.

P.P.S. Oh, Lira, I realize I forgot you. Thanks for the supportive comments, picking me to guest blog, and giving me a kick in the ass early on when I was worried about followers. I was still under the illusion at the time that an agent was going to find me and my writing. I was clearly delusional. Thanks for the knock on the head that was partially responsible for bringing me back down to earth. I am not giving you all of the glory, because the rest goes to the REALLY AWESOME writers I found who are still non-published. That was like Icarus flying too close to the sun. It was a crash and burn. It turns out that it didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would. Having a bunch of really awesome blog buddies made that fall much softer.


image hijacked from Miss Angie at My So-Called Chaos