I used to play a lot of backgammon on my Mac. I spent time surfing the net looking for something. I wanted to do more. I wanted to be more but I played backgammon against the computer.
I created my first blog, Many Rivers to Cross, on August 28, 2008. I used this picture. I didn’t say much. I was so nervous about being on the web that I used the name mountain mama.
In the beginning, my only follower was my friend Janie. She was the one who encouraged me to start blogging. I discovered how to connect with other nature photographers out of a desire for more followers. They inspired me to improve my skills as a photographer. I became an armchair traveler and created a list of people I wanted to meet and places I wanted to visit. I continue to dream of traveling the globe to meet my virtual friends in person.
As I deepened my relationships with my online friends, I started to feel confused about how to talk about them with my real life friends. How could this good friend of mine be someone I never met? Social media is not new but the experience of developing meaningful relationships through the internet was very new to me. It’s a generational thang.
Now, over three years later, I have opened up my heart and soul with such transparency that at times I astonish myself. I have found a tribe of people who are kind, encouraging, creative and energetic. Every day I’m learning more about social networking and marketing. I struggle not to spend too much time caught in that Bermuda Triangle between gmail, Twitter and facebook. (Thanks, Michelle, for putting a name to this challenging experience.)
17 comments
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Gaelyn
November 14, 2011 at 11:19 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I absolutely can’t believe how much I’ve shared online, where I spend way too much time. Yet I’ve made some great friends by opening up to the world. Like yourself. ( also waste a lot of time on solitaire.)
I’ve found answers and questions while searching. Yet I’m still searching.
I do want to meet more of my online friends face to face because I like them.
Leila Lloyd-Evelyn
November 14, 2011 at 12:04 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
It’s so good to hear you share how you have grown and expanded online into a full time business with wings!
So many of us are figuring out how to create a business and a presence online whilst staying fully present in our bodies too.
What’s the point of doing this beautiful amazing work if we forget ourselves and what we need to feel sane?
But it\s a learning curve – just like anything else I guess.
Totally honoured to witness your journey inspirational sweet one!
Leila xxx
Loran Hills
November 14, 2011 at 1:50 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Gaelyn, I like my online friends too! It would be awesome to have you as my guide at the Grand Canyon some day.
Leila, I’m not fully present in my body yet. I have so much work to do still, but thanks for the cheers! I keep thinking if I write it, then it will happen because I teach what I need to know.
Jackie
November 14, 2011 at 2:40 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I’m certainly trying to balance my online and offline worlds just now, it’s a constant delicate quest for balance. I really love the resonances we can find online and then carry them into the offline world. I’ve physically met quite a few Twitter buddies in the past year and they were every bit as wonderful in real life as I knew they would be. I’d love to play real life backgammon with you watching a beautiful sky, with your cats weaving around our legs. ps I’m legendary at backgammon (or at least I think I am!) xx
Loran Hills
November 14, 2011 at 10:15 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Jackie, you would be ever so welcome for a visit! And, I would love a challenging backgammon game any time. Ooh, fun!
Petrea
November 14, 2011 at 2:46 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Ahhhh this resonates with me. In the past year I have met so many online friends and it has been hard to explain to friends who I know off line. I’m realizing more and more though that it really doesn’t matter how I know my friends off or on line, what is important is that we have found each other and I know that there is a reason, that they have touched my life and hopefully I have touched theirs in some way too.
i still have a drive to meet some of them in person. But I know that it will happen if it needs to.
I have found kindred spirits on the web and for that I am truely thankful.
Loran Hills
November 14, 2011 at 10:16 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Petrea, I am thankful for being able to meet people like you! It’s all good.
Barbara
November 14, 2011 at 3:14 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Loran, I’m still hoping we get the chance to meet up in person, too! I’m still in Utah, but did not make it over your way this summer. And now I guess it’s the time of year when I might freeze solid and be coated in frozen fog over there. But I do have it in mind to go see the new visitor center at Dinosaur one of these days…
Loran Hills
November 14, 2011 at 10:12 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I was just wondering if where you were. I get to SLC more than Ogden but would love to hook up. The new visitor centers awesome! No fog or ice yet. Just a little cold wind.
Michelle Shaeffer
November 14, 2011 at 11:49 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Thanks for the link and mention, Loran. That’s just the perfect name for it.
We’ve been on similar blogging journeys. I started out very anonymous as well and I’ve slowly learned to share more and make connections. It’s amazing the support and friendship that’s just a few keystrokes away.
Stella Seaspirit
November 15, 2011 at 6:49 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
As an intuitive, I connect with the soul essence of a person when I “tune in” to their energy so distance is of no regard. I have been extremely blessed to have met a number of souls all over the globe who stir my heart and resonate with me on a core level. Socialising via the interweb is as close as we get to teleporting for now!
I’m online pretty much 5 days a week so I tune out for 48 hours on weekends and for at least 2 whole weeks a year.
Loran Hills
November 15, 2011 at 7:15 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Oh, yes, time and distance matter not! Thank you for the reminder. Same with the switching off, it is just as important as connecting!
Ellie Di
November 16, 2011 at 8:34 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I’ve gotten quite comfortable with labelling online friends as simply friends. I know them, we like each other, we help each other out. Friends.
What I *am* starting to have trouble with is the social media thing. There’s a backlash churning up in Twitter against people who use it to promote their products, posts, etc. I’ve always been an epic personal Twitterer, and now I’m using it as a marking tool, too, so I’m sensitive to the uproar. I don’t want to lose this great avenue for connection to my need to get the word out about the tools I’m dreaming up.
So I’m considering scaling back my online presence across Twitter, FB, and G+ to ensure more quality interaction. That means less promoting, less sharing, but also less Ellie-ness. Not sure how I feel about that because I’d miss my online friends.
A conundrum, to be sure.
Marla @ Your Full Plate
November 17, 2011 at 9:08 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I’m still learning how to balance the two. Like you, I have spent much of the last year learning how to navigate the online world for business. The trickiest part for me is teasing apart the timesucks from the productive practices. The line can be so blurry!
PS your question about ‘have you found what you’re looking for online?’ made me giggle because I met my fiance through an online dating site. So yes, I definitely have!
Marla @ Your Full Plate recently posted..Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili
Loran Hills
November 17, 2011 at 9:18 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Congratulations, Marla, on your engagement!
So far I’m still stuck in the Bermuda Triangle but I don’t view the problem as permanent, yet!
Gustavo | Frugal Science
November 18, 2011 at 5:48 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I am continuingly trying to balance my online and my offline lives. I think it would be much easier if I could define my goals with more clarity. It would allow me to make an organic plan, but this is also difficult some times. It all comes to defining the big question: what is it that you really, really want? Isn’t it?
Gustavo | Frugal Science recently posted..Frugal cartoon: updating wordpress.
Loran Hills
November 18, 2011 at 7:03 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Hi Gustavo! You are so right. Defining what we want will help make an organic plan–if we know what we really do want!