Hello Everyone,
Happy New Years to everyone across the globe!
So far, ‘everyone’ consists of people who I have so kindly informed of this fledging little blog, and myself. It has been an increasing desire of mine to begin a blog and so I have decided it would be my way of beginning the year by acting on a dream that has been growing throughout 2009.
What do I hope to achieve out of this blog? So far I don’t have the answer to this question…perhaps it will come with time. For now I would love to share some funny, meaningful, whacky and heartfelt thoughts and stories that no doubt will fill 2010 and the years to come.
To begin my endeavour into the blogosphere I have some inspirational words from writer Nancye Sims, whose poems have reached me through forwarded emails and then my happening upon her website: http://nancyesims.com/
Here are a few lines from her poem ‘Some Definitions of Success’ (1996):
When you live for today, rather than in the past or for the future.
When you stop looking for happiness, and start giving it to others.
When you want less of what you can see and more of what you can’t see.
When you know the value of love and value it above all else.
When you need something to stand on, and your standards speak for themselves.
When you are touched by the beauty around you, and the world is touched by the beauty in you…
I am looking forward to this new and exciting endeavour and where it will take us. Enjoy!
I also just started a blog…………again. Started one back in September but felt so ……unprepared….to continue that I stopped. However, felt the new year was a new beginning….and new start, and that I did. Just went to read my blog and see there was a link to your blog……..do not know how it got there, but since I am a firm believer in “nothing happens by accident” I thought I would check your blog out. What a surprise to find, you also are new at this. From what I just read, your blog will be wonderful honey. I am 73, with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren….grew up without TV, car, or telephone……..and am now trying to live in a world of computers, web pages and BLOGS. Will certainly keep reading yours, feel certain I will learn lots. So, this is a wonderful new year with lots of new beginnings for both of us.! Isn’t that WONDERFUL? Good luck honey.
Myrna
Dear skippingstones1:
My name is Leora Trub and I am a student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). I am conducting a study of the reasons that people blog and what benefits it brings, which at this point are still largely unexplored in research studies. I am therefore reaching out to you as a blogger who can help deepen our understanding of this phenomenon. I believe that your voice is an important one to be heard and hope you will enjoy participating in the study. I have developed an online questionnaire that asks about specific aspects of blogging as well as asking about feelings about yourself and others in your life. The survey is a mix of numerical scales and opportunities to reflect in an open-ended format about the role of blogging in your life, and how it has changed over time.
You are eligible to participate if you are at least 21 years of age and have been maintaining an English-language personal blog for at least six months that you update or visit at least twice a week (on average). Your participation involves completing a confidential online questionnaire. The data will be downloaded onto a secure server to which only I have access. No identifying information, such as your names or address, will be collected. If you desire, you may choose not to share your blog name, in which case I will not access your blog for any reason after this point. If you do share your blog name, it will NOT be connected to your responses in the survey. Additionally, you will be given the opportunity to be identified by a code name in research reports and to have your blog description changed slightly so it cannot be identified.
The survey takes approximately 45 minutes to complete and participation is completely voluntary. Three participants who complete the survey will be randomly selected by a lottery to receive a $75 cash prize.
There are no foreseeable risks to participation in the study. Although some of the questions are personal in nature, participation in the study provides an opportunity to think about the role that your blog plays in your life.
If you have any questions about this research, you can contact me at (732) 407-7928 or ltrub@gc.cuny.edu, or my advisors Dr. Arietta Slade at (212) 650-5658 or arietta.slade@gmail.com and Dr. Tracey Revenson at (212) 817-8709 or trevenson@gc.cuny.edu.
The study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Graduate School of the City University of New York and meets of their guidelines as well as all state and federal guidelines for research with human participants. If you have any concerns about the project at any time, you can contact Ms. Kay Powell, Institutional Review Board at the Graduate School of the City University of New York (212) 817-7525 or kpowell@gc.cuny.edu.
In order to participate in this study, I need to send you an invitation through survey monkey. If you are interested, please send an email to ltrub@gc.cuny.edu from the email address to which you would like the invitation sent. I hope that you will decide to participate and also that you will share it with others if you decide you would like to. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Leora Trub, M.A.
Doctoral student in Clinical Psychology
Graduate School of the City University of New York
365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4309
ltrub@gc.cuny.edu
I really enjoyed this post. I have no idea what my blog will accomplish either, but I like surprises. I also love your photo. Where did you capture such a beautiful shot?
Thank you very much! The photo was taken in Sydney, Australia from a balcony near the harbour on New Years Eve.