Comm:unity

It is very bittersweet for me to announce that this is the final posting for the “By Invitation Only” group, who have been getting together from all over the world to blog about a common theme for five years now. This project was the idea of Marsha Harris at Splenderosa and involves some spectacularly talented women – truly, I was honored to have been asked to participate, especially as I was one of the only members to have a “small” blog when I joined. I have loved linking up with everyone’s different perspectives each month and often tried to come up with something special for BIO in a bendy twisty way that sort of matched the theme – not always easy as I stubbornly make all of my own content! But the result was that some of my favorite, favorite posts have come out of this collaboration such as:
http://lostinarles.blogspot.fr/2012/09/the-weight-of-cricket.html
http://lostinarles.blogspot.fr/2013/09/the-jangle-of-times-keys.html
http://lostinarles.blogspot.fr/2014/04/ten-things-to-take-on-cruise-for-by.html
and just because the timing is so appropriate
http://lostinarles.blogspot.fr/2013/12/snow-on-lavender-fields-christmas.html

For this month, the ever-talented Vicki Archer suggested that we talk about blogging…the highs and the lows…where it is at and where we feel that it is going. 

At the end of last October, before my fifth anniversary of blogging here at Lost in Arles, I gave a lot of thought to this subject. I shared some of my thoughts then and was so overwhelmed by your generous responses that I still haven’t caught my breath. You are all most certainly the “high”s (and the “low”s too when you leave, I admit it is something that I will never take lightly) but so is the thrill of a great afternoon passing in the blink of an eye until I wake up after having hit “publish.”
I realize very well that blogging has evolved enormously in these past five years…but at such a rapid rate that I am fairly sure that my “old-school” style of publishing when I want and what I want is also boomeranging back to what is appealing as well. At least those of you that are here – that goes without saying! Authenticity is such an important word to me. A friend recently jokingly called me a “phony” and I thought that my head was going to explode! Being sincere is never out of fashion in my book…

…because through direct (even while virtual) communication we can find unity together. 
And I don’t know about you but in this crazy beautiful world I need you all more and more. We are none of us invisible or unimportant.

So finally, a blog that has a sense of community is what is interesting to me today and I honestly think that is the direction that we are headed towards, no matter what the subject matter is finally…

…and I can share a few examples of people who I feel are doing this effortlessly and meaningfully:
http://momastery.com/blog/
http://thebloggess.com/
http://havesomedecorum.blogspot.fr/
In each of these blogs, the readers not only react to the author but also to each other in a really wonderful way. I have always been something of an outsider but being able to make connections through the mind-boggling big-small world is something that I still can’t wrap my head around. But my heart? I am all in.

So as this door is closing, I would just like to say thank you to all of those who have supported or been a part of By Invitation Only. I am extremely proud to have created in the midst of such a fine comm:unity and that I have made quite a friendships out of it too is just the icing on what was a very delicious cake.

To read all of the fantastic posts from my amazing colleagues (and Marsha has requested that we all chime in for this final post), please do click:
http://splenderosa.blogspot.fr/2015/12/by-invitation-only-final-post.html
Thank you, Marsha for an amazing run and Brava!
But you know how the saying goes, yes? When one door closes…another opens…
What about the door above? Curious?
Then stay tuned…

79 comments

  1. I LIKE this comparison………by my blog comment you were drinking something with THREE initials?Help me OUT STEPHEN what were YOU drinking?…………….and brie on baguette." SLATHERED" I MIGHT ADD!!!

  2. Heather…like all the above comments, we are all here because of you. You my dear are the Real Deal…a class act.

    A Merry Happy Christmas to you and Remi and the boys.

  3. I am so pleased you will still be writing your blog, Heather. You have a unique, intelligent perspective on things, coupled with a talented photographer's/artist's aesthetic. We need some beauty to counteract the unsettling state of the world right now. I am grateful for all you have to offer…AND, like La Contessa, I plan on twirling for Ellie on Christmas Eve as well. XOXO, Victoria

  5. I think the wonderful thing about blogging–in both the new and old styles are the windows it provides the readers and the author. I think that old school blogging allows the author to invite readers in and look out the author's windows for themselves. Whereas the newer way of blogging is more of a framed window viewed from the outside in. Is this making any sense? Thank goodness I haven't poured any wine yet.
    I much prefer the "old" to the new, even though it can be awkward and raw at times. I think you're completely correct–your style builds community with its "come in, sit down, something to drink?" Hospitality versus the "you are like so lucky to be reading this" nature of many blogs.

  6. I really enjoy both your writing and your photos that you craft together so beautifully! 🙂
    Will be back to take a look at your earlier posts….just have to walk the dog first…!!!

  7. Lovely, thoughtful, gifted Heather… "old-school," authentic, sincere, creative, ORIGINAL content… This is very much what we expect of you, what we appreciate in you, and why we come back over and over again and savor this experience. I cannot help but think of Tish's book at this moment, and her observations on Frenchwomen and their pragmatism, coexisting with attention to details AS THEY ARE — not necessarily as we would like to pretend they are. There is so much beauty in the real world, just as you capture it in your gorgeously decaying surfaces and your exquisitely "twisty bendy" interpretations of subjects and language.

    All of this is poetry, and while we know it when we see it and read it.

    As I've contemplated moving (even more) into the "newer" world of blogging, I've resisted. It doesn't feel authentic. It doesn't feel valuable. It may be right for others and both authentic and valuable to and for them; I like to think that as we mature, we come to know who we are and what we care about.

    Your following is here because of who you are and what you do. "Old school" may also be interpreted as classic and very high quality. I love what you do, and the way you do it.

    xo

  8. Kitty!!! This was a lovely post – lovely to look at and read. It strikes me that we haven't seen much of your new village; or am I wrong about that?? At any rate, we Heather-lovers were starving for your Provence-y images and they did not disappoint. I'm so glad that you have this community to be a part of – it really has been so wonderful for you, especially being on "foreign soil"! But I echo another's statement – can't the series continue with someone else at the helm? You, maybe?? Either way you are absolutely right that one ending is the beginning of something else and that is an exciting thought! Thank you for this post! (and yes – blue shutters + blueberries = heaven!).

  9. Onward, Upward, Forward .. always being thankful for past pleasures. Wishing you continued positivity in your future, Heather.

    Aloha,
    Bill

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