I have never met my blogging friend Nance in ‘real life’, only here, in the virtual world of blogging. I have met her on the page, however, not just on the screen. Nance has a giving nature. One day, a couple of years ago, she invited a group of us who have an ‘informal blogging circle’ to participate in a ‘travelling poetry journal’ project. Each of us was invited to create a poetry journal, write a couple or three or four poems in it and then, send it along to the next person in the circle. In total, there were six or eight of us participating. I sent my journal off, and a few days later, someone else’s arrived in my mailbox. I entered a couple of poems, some artwork and sent it off. And the circle continued. A couple of times the circle got stalled, and Nance tracked down the wayward journals and gently coaxed them back onto the path.

I loved that circle of travelling journals. The unexpected whimsical nature of the new arrivals. The anticipation of my returning words and the sharings of others. And while my journal got lost somewhere out there on the road of life — I do not regret joining the circle. Because, in Nance’s tender ways, I always feel cared for, acknowledged, seen. It is what I notice most about Nance. She ‘sees’. Whole people. Light. Darkness. Shadows. She sees beneath the surface to the heart. I experience her ‘seeing’ whenever I visit her blog, A Little Somthin’,  read her words, see her photos. She is whimsical. Light. Airy. She touches down upon the page, gently. She never presses hard. Never carries a stick to pound her senses into someone’s thoughts. She always touches, gently.

Thank you Nance for the difference you make in the world. Through being a light and gentle touch upon the earth, and my heart, you soften my senses and create openings of wonder and joy all around.

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Make My Heart Different

a guest blog by Nance

When my friend, Louise, asked me to write a post about making a difference, i decided to give it a try. Though at the time, and even now, i’m not sure what to say about it.

I know that everything makes a difference, being born, and not being born. Everything makes some kind of difference.  Though i really can not see all  that makes a good difference or a bad difference all of the time.  There are some things that people do that show immediate results of something that looks like it helps another person, in some way, or seems to help.  As there are things that seem to hurt.

I don’t go out of my way to save someone’s life.  And actually, i know that i’m quite self-centered and unaware.  And yet in my faith, i am called to be compassionate (together suffer).  I know that there is all kind of suffering.

I have seen darkness up-close.  But, it is rare that i realize that i stand with someone in their suffering.  But, i know that i must see it in this life, more than i do.  I must not run and hide from it.

I think that if my heart is in the right place at the right time, then a good difference can take place, even if i don’t realize it.  I think that a special connection happens that allows the transfer of Love.  That kind of exchange is probably the most important kind difference that could ever happen through me.  I would go so far as to say that it’s the most important kind of difference that takes place in life.

I can only hope that my heart will be transformed and that i will be able to see the good difference in the end.