I get curious every now and then about what people I used to know are doing with their lives. I generally still hold fondness in my heart for these people, but have lost touch and/or relationships with them. So every now and then, I find myself looking up the names of old friends on internet search engines.
About a week ago, I decided to look up my dad's name for no obvious reason. I figured that his name, of everyone I knew, would be online and I wanted to see where he was listed. My dad has a Ph.D. in plasma physics, which means he wrote a dissertation paper. He worked on the team that designed and built the scientific research space ship/probe, Voyager 2, as his post doctoral fellowship. He also worked on early modifications to the CAT scanner with its inventor. Now laugh with me here for a minute. The only place on the internet where my dad's name was listed was FaceBook. Check it out for yourself. Look up Dr. Earl S. Warden. See what I mean?
Of course, you know the failure of my search on Dad started me thinking about my other friends and family. My mother is not listed online at all. This is not surprising, as she works pretty hard to keep her name off the internet. On the other hand, she did once write an article that was published by a magazine, so I kind of expected that it might show up. No luck.
Then I started searching other names. My first ever boyfriend turned up. In fact, his name populated an entire search engine page... and he is listed on Wikipedia! You can check that out, too, if you like. Look up Donald X. Vaccarino. All sorts of articles are written about him and his card game, Dominion. My estranged husband also turned up on a search, but nothing so grand. He wrote a professional article. But his name is pretty common, so don't bother to look him up because you would need to know exactly what to look for to find him. Besides that, what he wrote is very technical and, dare I say, boring (to laypeople like me).
All this internet searching I did took place over the weekend. On Monday, I started thinking as I was driving.
"I am pretty smart. I could have done something spectacular with my life like Don did. But what have I done? ...I married my husband. That was my whole life. I worked my whole life to help him become successful. I did a really good job, but that @#$^&! gets all the benefit from my hard work and sacrifices. My life was wasted. Now I blog. Big deal. A lot of people blog. But where is my legacy? ....I need to do something! ...But ...What can I do? ...Don built on his strength of creative game-play."
Briefly, I paused to remember my former boyfriend's playful creativity and quick wit. A smile touched my lips. I felt pleased for him. I am glad that he was able to build a career around something that he loves. It warms my heart to know he is finally happy. Still, that did not solve my problem. I still needed to figure out what to do! I continued my musings, "I don't have that strength. What are my strengths? ....My children adore me. Do I have any strengths outside of being a good wife and mom? I have to! Lets see... I am friendly. Good strength, but... What notable strength can I use to make an impact on society? What need is there that I can fill? Umm...."
I think the rusty, old gears in my brain squealed as they reluctantly turned. It took a while to get them moving again. It's been a long time since I even approached the edges of my box. Finally, I think I came up with something. (Whew!) I have been researching for the last three days to figure out how to accomplish it. Here is what I have:
My Strengths: Writing, cheerfulness, looking for the good in situations.
Societal Problem: Spiritual depression, lack of hope, forgotten Christian morality.
Solution Idea: An e-zine (opt-in email newsletter) with articles of joy and happiness. I will call it Christian Joy.
For the last several days, I have been researching how to put together and find articles for this ezine. My idea seems to be pretty unique. There are free articles for re-publication all over the internet about everything under the sun except happy stories, spiritual stories with a happy slant, and/or humorous ones. What is wrong with the world?? I will need some help with writing my articles. But I also need some readers (LOL). If you are interested in either writing or reading, please visit www.bethdurkee.me/ChristianJoy.html for information.
Thanks!
About a week ago, I decided to look up my dad's name for no obvious reason. I figured that his name, of everyone I knew, would be online and I wanted to see where he was listed. My dad has a Ph.D. in plasma physics, which means he wrote a dissertation paper. He worked on the team that designed and built the scientific research space ship/probe, Voyager 2, as his post doctoral fellowship. He also worked on early modifications to the CAT scanner with its inventor. Now laugh with me here for a minute. The only place on the internet where my dad's name was listed was FaceBook. Check it out for yourself. Look up Dr. Earl S. Warden. See what I mean?
Of course, you know the failure of my search on Dad started me thinking about my other friends and family. My mother is not listed online at all. This is not surprising, as she works pretty hard to keep her name off the internet. On the other hand, she did once write an article that was published by a magazine, so I kind of expected that it might show up. No luck.
Then I started searching other names. My first ever boyfriend turned up. In fact, his name populated an entire search engine page... and he is listed on Wikipedia! You can check that out, too, if you like. Look up Donald X. Vaccarino. All sorts of articles are written about him and his card game, Dominion. My estranged husband also turned up on a search, but nothing so grand. He wrote a professional article. But his name is pretty common, so don't bother to look him up because you would need to know exactly what to look for to find him. Besides that, what he wrote is very technical and, dare I say, boring (to laypeople like me).
All this internet searching I did took place over the weekend. On Monday, I started thinking as I was driving.
"I am pretty smart. I could have done something spectacular with my life like Don did. But what have I done? ...I married my husband. That was my whole life. I worked my whole life to help him become successful. I did a really good job, but that @#$^&! gets all the benefit from my hard work and sacrifices. My life was wasted. Now I blog. Big deal. A lot of people blog. But where is my legacy? ....I need to do something! ...But ...What can I do? ...Don built on his strength of creative game-play."
Briefly, I paused to remember my former boyfriend's playful creativity and quick wit. A smile touched my lips. I felt pleased for him. I am glad that he was able to build a career around something that he loves. It warms my heart to know he is finally happy. Still, that did not solve my problem. I still needed to figure out what to do! I continued my musings, "I don't have that strength. What are my strengths? ....My children adore me. Do I have any strengths outside of being a good wife and mom? I have to! Lets see... I am friendly. Good strength, but... What notable strength can I use to make an impact on society? What need is there that I can fill? Umm...."
I think the rusty, old gears in my brain squealed as they reluctantly turned. It took a while to get them moving again. It's been a long time since I even approached the edges of my box. Finally, I think I came up with something. (Whew!) I have been researching for the last three days to figure out how to accomplish it. Here is what I have:
My Strengths: Writing, cheerfulness, looking for the good in situations.
Societal Problem: Spiritual depression, lack of hope, forgotten Christian morality.
Solution Idea: An e-zine (opt-in email newsletter) with articles of joy and happiness. I will call it Christian Joy.
For the last several days, I have been researching how to put together and find articles for this ezine. My idea seems to be pretty unique. There are free articles for re-publication all over the internet about everything under the sun except happy stories, spiritual stories with a happy slant, and/or humorous ones. What is wrong with the world?? I will need some help with writing my articles. But I also need some readers (LOL). If you are interested in either writing or reading, please visit www.bethdurkee.me/ChristianJoy.html for information.
Thanks!
Beth, You ARE spectacular and are a big success! You did the very thing God calls us to do as wives. I suggest you re-read Proverbs 31 beginning with verse 10 and you will see what I mean. Maybe you have not received the earthy recognition you feel you have deserved, but rest assured you will receive a far better reward.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, the wife of noble character whose husband praises her at the gates. Always a good read. :-) But while my husband is taking a temporary haitus from our marriage, I would like to use my extra time to impact the world in some [positive] way. I think the e-zine is a good idea for how to use my skills. Please help by spreading the word, signing up and/or volunteering a joyful article.
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