deep thought

I have been thinking about a lot over the past several years of my life: stoichiometry, the exceptions to phonics rules, emerging maturity in my progeny, politics, religion, the manifestations of faith. My mind is a constant whirl of thoughts on subjects profound and inane. Even so, very rarely do my thoughts make it to print. Imagine my amazement, then, when my friend Mary graced me with a thinking blogger award.



“Eek!”

That single word very tidily sums up my initial response. So many writers who I stumble across on the internet inspire me to think. I am humbled by their talents and the depth of their thoughts. I am not of their caliber. My musings tend toward little snippets of random thought, but thoughts they are. I acknowledge that often the items which spew forth from my fingers cause me to think long and hard (other times the babble just causes me to roll my eyes in dismay, but that’s another story). Perhaps, then, I should also let myself feel comfortable in the possibility that they do the same for someone else.

This is all a very long-winded way of trying to just say, “Thank you, Mary,” but I have never been good at graciously accepting a compliment.

Part two of my “eekedness” involved choosing five bloggers who make me think (to whom I pay forward this honor). There are many out there – some I have happened upon quite by accident once or twice, and never located again. Those are obviously out of the running. I immediately eliminated anyone who (to my knowledge) recently received this honor from another source. A few of my choices are people I do not really know at all. One of them doesn’t even know I exist. That said, I will move on.

My first honoree is one who has no clue of my presence. I found his blog quite by mistake one day, but happy accident it was. Fortunately I bookmarked the blog. A few months ago, the link suddenly stopped working. How grateful I was when a recent google search yielded results. Some noteworthy stuff can be found in his attic (the resting place of some material from his old blog – before the great disappearance). Lee Kennedy of A Curate's Egg is a former chemist turned psychology student who lives in Australia. Though I am not always in agreement with his conclusions about every matter, I can honestly say that even his snippets make me think. I give him this honor knowing full well it may go no further. I have never even posted a comment on his blog. I promise to get over my paralyzing introversion long enough to at least pass a comment on to him.

My second choice is for a mom with whom I have only the most cursory of connections. I lurk on her blog regularly, and have commented once. Nonetheless, Omegamom is someone who never fails to get me thinking. There have been a few times where her holding forth on a subject has caused me to view it in a way I never had before. Some examples of this include thoughts on adoption or infertility.

The thought provoking nature of these blogs is overt. My other choices make me think in a completely different way. Most of the time, they make me think because they make me feel. Or they make me think from the simple phrasing of a sentence. The nuance is the catalyst of thought.

Heather at Many Pieces of Me is one of those thinking bloggers. Her quick wit and fine-tuned appreciation of the ironic never cease to inspire reflection. One example from January shows how a few words can say so much. Even when she is talking about the little nothings that make up day to day life Heather has a way of making me think deeply – often about the things left unsaid.

My spidery friend is someone else whose emotional writing tends to touch a space in my soul-matter. When waxing poetic about her artistic heart, or sharing the simple joy of our mutual friend’s healthy born baby, she reaches a part of me that feels more intensely and cares about things more passionately. She inspires the kind of thought that makes me know I am alive.

And then there is jouette. I believe I can blame her for the fact that I ever got into blogging in the first place. When her heart moves with thought on the precious nature of life, or she reaches into the tenderness that comprises her in order to rhapsodize about the love of her life, I am touched. That touching of the heart provokes pondering into the nature of human relationship.

So there you have it. And now all I have to do is remain strong under the pressure of this honor and post only weighty and profound essays of unquestionable merit. Does anyone know a good ghost writer?