About this blog

A friend once stated that blogs are "me-centric."

This blog is no exception.

Most, if not all, of the blog entries on toss & ripple are snapshots of my life, of my thoughts, of my reflections. "Me-centric." 

Life stories naturally involve other people, so other people appear in many of the entries. To protect certain identities, names and/or dates and/or places in some blog entries are changed from the actual. I seldom indicate these changes.

I typically edit an entry multiple times after publishing it. Sometimes I discover and correct a disremembered date or fact. Sometimes I add or subtract detail. Sometimes I get to feeling self-conscious thinking I shared too much personal detail, so I delete those sections. Sometimes I delete whole blog posts and, on rare occasions, certain comments. 

(From 2015 through November 2023, this blog was not on search engines. From June 2022 through late November 2024, the comment option was disabled. Beginning in September 2024, I no longer post personal pictures on my blog.)

What is the purpose of this blog? 

The question prompts an avalanche of feelings and doubts and thoughts.

Probably the main purpose is to provide a venue to give voice.

What other possible purposes might this blog have?
...to practice writing,
...to step out of my comfort zone,
...to grow in my ability to communicate more clearly,
...to learn who I am and have a record of how I evolve,
...to become more comfortable in my own skin,
...to continue to discover and rediscover.
...to provide information that might help another along their journey...

Maybe I'll grow in my ability to express and to embrace authenticity. If so, then perhaps some folks who come across this blog are inspired in like manner.

All that said, social media (including blogging) where humans display so much of their personal lives in public, seems an oddity to me. I wonder how much of it ties into narcissism, individual and cultural, and where is the line between a healthy and unhealthy narcissism? How much is due to the medium of our times, it's ease of accessibility allowing us a disconnected-connectedness? How much displays our innate need to be heard, amplified because people's lives, loaded with multitasking, move too fast for listening? How much is simply "art," expression of the soul? 

The name toss & ripple was inspired by a poem I penned in 2007 entitled significance beneath my sandal.  I believe in the ripple effect, that seemingly small actions -- words, deeds, and misdeeds of one person -- matter.

Thanks for visiting toss & ripple.

May peace abound,
~Carol 

       
~*~
significance beneath my sandal
(march 31, 2007)

one grain of rock
trampled under
crushed beneath
my sandal

no thought given
to its suffering
for it is
but gravel

yet this pebble
tossed on water
rippled pond
life aroused

one day trampled
no thought given
form concealed
underground

another day
tossed to freedom
bobbing shapes
round and round

~*~


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