Friday, October 17, 2008

True View Friday Open Thread


We did this last week and now we're doing it again. It's your turn to give us a glimpse into your world. Every Friday we will ask you to start the conversation by asking you two questions:

What do you believe?
and
What have you observed or noticed this week as you've walked through your world?

Your thoughts can either reflect inward, stating something you believe strongly or is commentary on your own experience or your thoughts can move outward, retelling something you've noticed or observed (a particular interaction with another person, the way you resolved a conflict, a wonderful connection) as you went through your week. You can also ask a question that is either directed towards all people or something you truly wish to understand about a community.

I like to think of this open thread similar to a two-dimensional Christmas advent calendar (so says the Jewish lady) where you peel back the little windows and you get a glimpse of the house underneath. Each comment is a small window in a world that is uniquely and wonderfully your own. And if you notice something amazing inside a comment, connect with the writer and let them know.

If you are stuck, try beginning your sentence with "I believe..." and then explain your reasons behind the thought.

In addition to providing a view into your world, please respond to a thought that someone else threw into the conversation by adding a (+) before the commentor's sign-off name and then adding your thoughts. In other words, when you open a new comment box, write

+lollipop goldstein--

and then your comment (eg. +lollipop goldstein--in asking us to present what we believed has opened a huge, messy can of worms*).

As I've already stated in the comment manifesto, all thoughts should be respectful. Points-of-view are, by definition, very personal and one person's thoughts are not meant to reflect everyone's thoughts within a community. Comments that attack another person, are hateful in nature, or are seen as simply picking a fight and not starting a conversation will be deleted.

So give us a glimpse into your world and teach us something new about your corner of the blogosphere. What do you believe? What have you observed? What do you want to ask? In other words, how do you view the world?


* This is probably true, but if we're not willing to talk out the hard topics, open our hearts to another person's world, listen, and build that bridge, there is little point to this site.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe that until we focus our attention on the least of us, those who cannot speak for themselves, those whose voices are lost in the clamor, we cannot move forward. Trickle down hasn't worked, perhaps now it is time to try building from the bottom up. When your foundation is weak, it does no good to strengthen the roof. Education, health care, workforce training, I believe these are the tools that will make us stronger as a whole. It's the whole "teach a man to fish" idea. In the long run, we all benefit.

Annie said...

Good thoughts. I think we have to begin with us, the people around us, the people we see every day. We can say big things, but if we aren't doing anything about it then our words are empty. The world can only run so far on empty words.

Victoria said...

good thoughts on this thread - I didn't get on the computer Friday so I missed participating in this thread, which I love.

I'll share the Yom Kippur thought about some are guilty, but all responsible, which fits the thoughts up this week.