Shrinking World

We weren’t the first people on the web, by any means. Our first contact was through AOL, about fifteen years ago. I clearly remember the first time I clicked on a link to an international site. I didn’t even know for sure what I was doing, but suddenly text appeared on my screen and I knew I was probing an electronic brain located halfway around the world, in real-time. That absolutely blew my mind! I could sit at my computer in Pittsburgh and instantly make things happen in Rome. I sat there, shivering with awe at the way the world had just shrunk.

Today I click international links several times a week, sometimes without realizing it. The novelty has worn off. But I’m still thrilled when I check the traffic log for this blog and see how many people are visiting from every corner of the earth — it's exciting to see this interest in writing lifestories uniting people from everywhere. And I still get goosebumps when e-mail arrives from strangers around the globe. Today was such a day. I had a lovely long e-mail from Celia Jones, down in Melbourne, Australia, halfway around the world.

Celia has been writing lifestories and various types of articles for awhile now, and she sent links to some of her work. One article stood out as something I wanted to share to right away. It’s about Celia’s experience as she began writing about her own life. She describes several resources that she found helpful. As soon as I read the first one, about songs, my mind ran wild with my own music-based memories. I could hardly bear to finish reading before I started writing stories of my own.

Rather than repeat what she already wrote, I’ll simply urge you to click here and go read it for yourself. Be sure you have a pencil and paper or notecards on hand before you click. I guarantee you’ll also be flooded with story ideas. I’ll follow up with a related thought in a day or so, Stay tuned.

Sharon Lippincott, aka Ritergal

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