Bridges

The spark for this site actually came from reading infertility blogs that became cancer blogs. Several bloggers who were building their families discovered cancer along the way and their trying-to-parent journals morphed into a chemo and radiation journey. As I continued reading their blog, I stepped over the information I intellectually knew about cancer into emotional territory: not just that you lose your hair from chemo, but how it feels to wake up and see those strands across your pillow. And I like to think that I now understand a little bit better.

There are a lot of sites that are built to both build community and share support and resources intercommunity. Yet I couldn't find any that were bridges for the outsider: those who knew someone affected and wanted to understand yet didn't know a way in or those who had gained empathy from their own experience and wanted to better understand someone else. Hence the birth of Bridges.

The tagline of the site is "taking the taunts off of the playground one post at a time" and that is what we hope to accomplish with this online magazine and support site. As parents become better educated, they will pass those lessons down to their children who in turn will foster more understanding with the next generation.

This site is about reading with an open heart. This site is about leaving black-and-white at the door and slipping into grey. This site is about listening and speaking. This site is about education and empathy. We are a consortium of compassionate bloggers who are looking to use writing to educate, tell a story, bring awareness, and build community. We would like you to join along too.

In order to fully utilize this site, you'll need to keep your eyes in several places. In the center are blog posts that stand as glimpses into an experience. Our contributing editors cull the posts from their personal blogs as well as others in the community (and there is information about submitting posts on that page). There is no set posting schedule and we hope you approach reading this blog as you would produce from a CSA rather than a food store. When you purchase your produce at a food store, you get exactly what you want; which is certainly nice, but your world doesn't expand at all. With a CSA, you may end up with vegetables you'd never dream of using and discover you love. It is a palate-opening experience and we hope the tastes of community you receive from this site broaden your understanding of the world.

The other places are the two sidebars. We are still building this site and it will never stop growing. We are keeping our own blogroll of compassionate bloggers who write specifically on a topic so you can find the stories you're seeking. If you would like your site added, there is information about being added to the blogroll on the blogroll itself. It is opt-in, meaning; we will not place you on the blogroll without your explicit instruction. Being on the blogroll means that you may be contacted by the media when they are doing a story on a specific topic.

We also have external blogrolls that are kept intercommunity that you can access through the sidebars, links to helpful sites that serve as intercommunity consortiums on a topic, and community-based projects. As well, of course, as bridges that bring us together. We want to hear suggestions and requests. Please send them currently to Melissa. We are inclusive and if your community is not yet listed, please place it on the site.

We are stronger together rather than apart. Therefore, please lend your voice, get involved, and change the world.