Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Connections: Worldwide and on the World Wide Web.

Over 1000 bloggers and videographers come together on the 20th of every month to raise their voices for compassion and to speak for good. I am joining them again today. The #1000 Speak for Compassion topic for this month is “Connections.” 

When I started thinking about what to write for this post, two very different examples of connections immediately came to mind. One involves a quick but valuable tip for bloggers; the other is the challenge of maintaining personal connections as we travel through life.





I. Connections on the web: an explanation and a helpful tip for Bloggers

Yesterday I mentioned “broken links” and talked about a tool I found to repair them.  I was referring to
the computer links embedded within a blog post - like the link I provided in the previous sentence to take you to my article! When a blogger writes a post, they can add links to words, so that when those words are clicked upon they connect to other pertinent information. The link may lead to another article on that blog, or any other article on the web.  If that link is not entered correctly or no longer leads to a valid page, the connection will be broken and the reader will not be able to find the information.


screen shot, 404, broken link
This is not the screen a blogger hopes a reader will find, when they clink on a link in their blog post
I now have two new rules to follow, to help prevent broken links from happening. Other bloggers might find these tips helpful too!
  1. Remember to use the "Check this Link" feature on Blogger (I assume there is something similar on other platforms.)  I can't believe how many times I have incorrectly entered a link! It is a really easy mistake to make. Using this feature would have prevented a lot of my broken connections from happening.
  2. Be careful when entering my url when commenting on another blog.  While checking my broken links, I realized a number of them were because a blogger inadvertently typed their own information incorrectly.  My apologies to anyone on whose blog I may have done this!

II. Connections in real life: words of comfort when friends and family are far away.

The most important connections in life are the ones we have with other people - especially those dear to us. Because of life circumstances, we frequently find ourselves far apart from those we love. 

I may have had more practice at this than most. I've moved a lot from place to place. I have gotten to know and then lost touch with many people, but I've tried to stay connected to good friends.
  • Age  3:  we moved to a new house 150 miles from the old one. I was too little to remember, but I probably missed my playmates until I made new friends. 
  • Age 14: my family moved from Calgary, Canada to Spain.  (We originally only planned to be there a year, but we all loved it there so much that year turned into four.) This was long before reasonable overseas telephone rates or the invention of the Internet. Prior to the move, my sisters and I struck a deal with my parents - for an unlimited supply of postage to write or mail things to our friends!
  • Age 17: I left home to go to college in a city in the United States where I didn't know a soul; my parents and younger sisters remained overseas, and my twin sister was several states away.  It was then that I first discovered some  lines of a poem, Homesick in Heaven, by Oliver Wendell Holmes. These words have been my touchstone ever since.
  • Since  starting college: I have moved a number of times - to London, West Virginia, back to Spain, to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Montana.  Keeping in touch with far-away friends was sometimes hard.   One of the perks of Facebook is that it has provided an opportunity to reconnect with many friends I had thought forever lost!
  • Currently: The poetry of Holmes has become comforting to me again. My daughter has plans that will prevent her from coming home for more than a few weeks of this summer of her sophomore college year. My son will be gone the entire month of June on a backpacking trip. I will miss my offspring even more intensely than I missed my parents when I left home as a teenager.  
Now I have a better understanding of how my mom and dad must have felt, with me so far away!  But, I believe the words of the poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

Though the chain may lengthen, it will never, ever break.  
Because, where we love  - and where we are loved - is home.

Who are your most important connections, and are they near to you?

#1000 Speak for Compassion/ Connections.

This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog. Check them out!

16 comments :

  1. I love this potpourri of a post. My connections are all over the world and I love them all!

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    1. I'm glad you liked it Carol! My real-life friends have always been spread out, and now I have blogging friends all over as well!

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  2. Hi Susan! Wow, that was quite a move to Spain (for four years)! My husband and I talk about visiting Spain sometime just for kicks. What a great opportunity, although I can understand how it could have made feeling connected to a homeland challenging. My dearest connections are my friends and family, some near...some far. :)

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    1. Hi Shelah - thanks for leaving a comment. I hope you get to go to Spain - it is a wonderful country to visit.

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  3. I'm so blessed. Four of my six children live right here in the same town, within a five minute walk of me. Another son and his family are 20 minutes away. Only my unmarried son lives a short plane ride away, on the coast. I'm so lucky!

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    1. I can't help but be a little envious - but happy for you Diane! Family has often been at a distance for me - but close at heart!

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  4. I have been so lucky and have found and forged some wonderful connections here in the blogosphere. People I have not met, and may never meet in person who have a home in my heart.

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    1. Yes - and I am so happy to have met you EC!

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  5. Clever connection! Love how you included both the linking info and the important connections of life. I've made the mistake of incorrectly entering my blog URL and have had someone ask me to redo it. Oops. As for pals, two of my dearest ones live far away. Neither is big on writing but we manage to keep in touch. It's funny but their FB pages are updated only when they are tagged by others! Here's to you and I staying connected!

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    1. You know you have a really good friend, when even if you don't communicate a lot on a day-to-day basis, you can pick-up right where you left off when back together. (Long sentence - not sure it made sense!) And yes - Kelly, I hope we stay connected!!

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  6. Since I've lived in the same area since middle school, I still have a lot of connections with old friends. I wish more of my family lived closer though. And don't even get me started on the boys moving away!

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    1. We will form a support group when we both have an empty nest, Lana!

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  7. I really haven't moved often in my life but I know about lost connections. I found some old friends on the internet but I, nor they, do social networking so I lost touch again. I mostly stay connected to my children, grandchildren, and one of my sisters. I do e-mail a couple of my cousins. Our children are a fairly short trip away and they both live in the same direction -- west -- so we can visit both in the same trip which is always fun. Good article, Susan.

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    1. It is good you can see both your kids in one trip Lynn ... that way there is no question of a favorite child !(lol!)

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  8. I have a little of both. I'm very lucky that my daughter has always chosen to remain close by logistically my son on the other hand has lived all over the world and hasn't been home but for short visits for close to 8 years. I miss him and his family and we try to get together when we can but you always feel as if a part of you is missing.

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    1. My heart just squeezed a little at the thought of only short visits like that from your son - but so, so happy for you that you can enjoy your daughter and your grand babies being near-by!

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