Really, though. I have met some VERY cool people. As I was pondering who to mention first, a post popped up on my reader that totally sealed the deal. I’ll get to that post in a bit, but first, I’d like to introduce you to one of the Peeps I Know.
Blog Title: Tasting Grace
Blog Author: Jade Keller
I actually met Jade first through her photography. She’s a regular You Capture participant. That link leads right to her You Capture entries. She also happens to be a very talented writer.
Good images coupled with strong writing will suck me in every time. I can’t help myself. I am compelled to learn more about the person.
If I remember correctly, first I just bookmarked Jade’s blog. I think it was this Chasing a Dream post that really intrigued me and made me want to follow this young woman.
I mean, how cool is it to drop everything and go to the other side of the world to do something you feel moved to do? It’s VERY cool.
It’s also sort of interesting that she ended up in one of the places in Thailand that Shannon liked the best.
Honestly, I have really enjoyed following along these last few months as she and her husband left everything they know to move to Thailand.
In case you didn’t read that Chasing a Dream post, I’ll tell you why they moved to Thailand. In her words, she’ll be “working as Project Director for the SOLD Project, an advocacy group in Thailand dedicated to preventing and helping victims of human trafficking and sexual servitude. I want to do what I can to help the girls (and boys) who go into the city trying to find work in restaurants or bars to support their families, but then end up abducted into prostitution. It is a black market so large, it competes with drugs and guns. It is so pervasive, numbers so large we can’t even comprehend – numbers of little girls and sold into slavery every day. It even has an impact, not only on national health, but also on GDP and terrorism. It is a problem we know about. But we don’t really know.”
That post that popped up on my reader yesterday was this one: Coming to SOLD. It brought tears to my eyes. It made SOLD real. Not that I didn’t believe her already. It’s just that seeing the faces of those kids is pretty powerful.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s a waste of time getting to know these people in my computer. I’ll probably never meet or even speak to most of them. But then I realize how much richer it makes me feel knowing there are people like Jade out there in the world. And I’d never know about her, or the cool things she’s doing, or get to enjoy her pictures, general writings on life, etc., if I didn’t do this whole blogging thing.
I don’t think I’ll be stopping any time soon.
If you do go and poke around on Jade’s blog — and you really should — be sure to tell her that ToadMama sent you.
Thanks for sharing Jade’s story. What a great cause!
Wow! She is special and her work is important. Thanks for introducing me to both. I’m going to poke around a little more and learn more.
From my personal experience, I don’t share the pessimistic attitude about online relationships being destined to be superficial. I have made some very deep and important relationships that started online and later moved into real life. While I believe you can’t really know someone until you meet them in person, there is nothing stopping us from doing that, except lack of desire or effort. For valuable friendships, I’m willing to make that effort. I’ve visited online friends throughout this country and even in foreign countries and forged REAL friendships as a result. If it wasn’t for the online-introduction, I never would have met those people.
Danelle and Ralph, I was pleased to be able to share Jade.
Ralph, I didn’t realize I sounded so pessimistic. I did say “most” of them I’ll never meet. I’m sure I’ll meet some of you in person eventually. 🙂
I already “know” Jade, but you gave her a great introduction. I’m looking forward to more of these.
The line that affected me most is when you wrote, “I wonder if it’s a waste of time getting to know these people…”. That sort of broke my heart. You follow it up with a positive turn, but the mere occurrence of this thought to you made me sad.
I meant my response to be encouraging; I hope you didn’t take it in any other way. I want you to feel good about online conversations.
You know, Ralph, I really did say that the wrong way. Thanks for making me think about that. Honestly, I don’t ever think the interaction with people is a waste of time. I’ve met some really cool people. I even went and met up with one of them already. And I know I’ll meet more. I do feel good about the various conversations, interactions, photo sharing, etc. I guess what gets to me more is all the time spent tied to a computer. It’s a necessary evil, though. If I didn’t do the blog thing, look how much narrower my world would be. And just like in real life, it’s easy enough to weed out the folks you don’t really like. Between my job and blogging, I live such a huge chunk of my life via computer and/or telephone. Sometimes it all feels a bit unreal.