It was always Mission Lights

I don't know why. Color me hyper-responsible. It's a good color for me. Whatever the reason, I feel a mission within the world. I feel compelled to fix things, use my voice, my abilities, my time, in any way I can. It might be hubris, it might be good will toward mankind, it might be both.

My blog is a good venue for that. I can bring forth issues, present POVs. I can feel like I make a difference. However, I have to be careful because some days it might seem as if talking about it all is enough.

Of course it never is. For me, anyway.

Still my blog is a good spot for thinking out loud.

It's easy to fall into personal introspection and get stuck there, forget there is a big world beyond me. "There are people in China who've never heard of you or your troubles," my friend Tracy used to say to me when I got too angsty, "And even if they had, they still wouldn't care." He'd rub his fingers together to emulate a tiny violin, and would pout out his lips for dramatic effect.

When I feel I get a little too into myself, I news dive. I seek out stories in the world, in my community. I try to balance, me as an individual with me as a member of a greater whole. I find something within the greater community, and I retreat back into my own head and heart. So my blog posts go back and forth between me within the world and me within myself and my own life. I look for that peak moment.

One of my current authors introduced me (well, reintroduced me, I mean) to Maslow. I rediscovered the concept of the peak experience. There are two types: relative and absolute.

In the first, we understand something about ourselves, experience a sort of inspiration or rapture. It's that moment when you feel at home in your own skin, feel that sense of rightness in who you are and what you are doing.

In the second, we experience our greater place within the universe. It's that moment when you feel simultaneously huge and tiny...a part of the world (physical, spiritual, emotional) around us.

To experience a peak moment requires a degree of self-actualization, and in a way, that is what blogging is all about. Therefore, we are all trying to think, or be stimulated by other's thoughts.

I think blog surfing could really also be called peak experience seeking.

Maybe that will convince your significant other to understand your Internet time better. ;) Just explain you are broadening your mind, maturing emotionally as you read blogs.

I recently wrote about the increase in blogging awards. I mentioned some "nods and recognition" that I appreciated, such as the Perfect Post, ROFL, and Just Posts. I said I liked these because they were, in my opinion, real awards---rewards, actually---rather than popularity contests. I just learned last week about another blogger-to-blogger nod of appreciation: The Thinking Blog awards.



This began at The Thinking Blog, where the blogger wrote, "My aim with this blog is to offer content that is interesting, informative and things that could really help my friends who are reading it."

I am completely behind that. He started a new blog meme, '5 Blogs That Make Me Think' so that everyone could easily find blogs with merit, that provide relevant and thought-provoking content. I've discovered some great new blogs through this.

So I am both grateful and thankful to the Mad Hatter who introduced me to this thinking blogger meme, and tagged me. Thank you!

Now it's my turn to tag some bloggers who make me think. I've written the post (rule #1), linked to the originator (rule #2), and now for the hard bit: link to only five bloggers.

1. Life, the Universe and Everything by Mary. Her Sleeping with Bread is inspirational. Whether it's her blog or her comments, I'm always sure to find something intriguing.

2. Thailand Gal by Chani. Somehow, I feel pretty sure Chani is all about peak experiences.

3. Organized Chaos. I found Sandy after she found me through the Perfect Posts. It was my "Parenting as if I might get hit by a bus tomorrow" post (currently featured on Divine Caroline). With every comment and every blog post, Sandy makes me think and feel.

4. Izzymom by Izzy. Sweetly, intelligently, honestly, humorously, succinctly, poignantly acerbic. That's a compliment, high praise. She hits that balance I mentioned that I aim for---self and world, world in self, and self in world---and makes it relevant to each reader, of whom there are many.

5. Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy. See, right now I am stuck. I can't link because that would be cheating, right? Just one goes in this slot. But maybe I can hint off my blogroll over there.

There's a starry blogger who I miss, who I loved for her brief, and poetic, observations.

There's a Cinderella who blogs infrequently these days, to my chagrin, but has yet to put up a post that didn't motivate me to comment.

There's a new blogger, oxymoronically boney yet piggy, who is sharp and observant, infused with humor.

There's an old friend who I read regularly, and who pops in here now and again, whose breadth, depth, and discussion of omega motherhood is always intriguing.

There's a blogger you might not know, but should, who seeks fortune and glory, and caffeine, who is a fantastic writer, and who delves into thoughtful topics with poignant insight.

There's a chick with a baby, and a dog, who made my breath catch when she wrote a post to a Dear Friend, and turned me from "occasional lurker" to "regular reader."

My blogroll is full of thinking bloggers. I have still more links in my bookmarks, mainly to bloggers I'm sure you all read. I regularly go to metadata and newsites, full of interesting writers. There's a lot of great fodder out there.

Maybe go someplace new.

Have you visited Kaliroz at Fortune and Glory; after a cup of coffee (An intrepid adventurer attempting to see the world from the confines of her desk. And, no, there is no time for love, Dr. Jones.)?

all text and images copyright 2007 Julie Pippert. Please contact me via email link above for reprint permission.

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