I woke up yesterday morning to a long, kind email from a stranger who claimed to have read my writing on Krista Tippett's On Being website. I didn't know what she was talking about. Then I got a notice that someone had tweeted something I said, or should I say I got a tweet? I have a twitter account (is that how you say it?), but I have used it maybe four times. I have no idea what I'm doing reading or writing tweets. Or twittering. And then someone liked -- or is it favorited? -- that tweet. Or is it twitter? Oh, twat! In any case, I eventually made my way to the On Being site and saw that a post I wrote years ago was their featured blog post for the day and that they'd also posted many photos from my blog and the Extreme Parenting Video Project. My name was right on there, as was my picture and a little bio. A link to the ebook was there, too.
I'll make a long story short. I had no idea why all of this was published. I never received any word from the site that they were publishing my work, and here's the clincher: I have no memory of submitting anything to them. I wrote the editor and explained that while I was thrilled and honored to be featured, it felt weird to have not been contacted beforehand.
The internets are strange and wild, indeed.
The editor got back to me with an apology for their oversight in not contacting me. Evidently, I had submitted the piece, but I'm not sure when. Have I gone mad? Again, I have no recollection of doing so, and the piece was written in 2012, well before we embarked on the cannabis odyssey.
The On Being website and recorded interviews are some of my favorite things generated online, and I have often felt that Krista Tippet might have the best job in the universe. So, wow. I'm honored and grateful to be included on the site.
You can read it here.
Feel free to tweet and twat and twank about it, too.
We’re opening to handle what we’re given.
ReplyDeleteAh, love that last line.
No. It is still wrong to not have written you and given you a publication date head's up.
ReplyDeleteBut it is wonderful that there you are!
What a strange, odd thing. It sure is a beautiful piece though.
Sorry, I can't assess your "madness". I'm too busy trying to separate a tweet from a twit or whatever you wrote. I'll just calm down and go over to Krista's.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Bonnie
Wow, what an honor! I'm a big fan of On Being, I get so much out of every episode.
ReplyDeleteGreat! BTW, you may not want to use "twat" too much in the future. ;)
ReplyDeleteThis morning I send you and Sophie my love. In my work, not all the babies are 'perfect'. And I watch their parents do the best they can. As Andrew Solomon's book greatly expanded my understanding of parents and families with children who are 'horizontal', your writing continually reminds me to leave my heart open for the pain of this human life.
ReplyDeleteIn gratitude,
Beth
This morning I send you and Sophie my love. In my work, not all the babies are 'perfect'. And I watch their parents do the best they can. As Andrew Solomon's book greatly expanded my understanding of parents and families with children who are 'horizontal', your writing continually reminds me to leave my heart open for the pain of this human life.
ReplyDeleteIn gratitude,
Beth
Consider it tweeted! (although my almost 400 followers is a small bunch compared to your audience here) What a wonderful piece and there is such beauty in those photos! I had not heard of On Being before, so I guess I know what I'm doing with the rest of this rainy workday.
ReplyDeleteBut I'll echo Ms Moon in saying that they really should have given you some communication of using your words, photos, etc.
That last sentence is powerful. You are a brilliant writer.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on being featured! It IS weird when something you create is picked up and posted elsewhere online. I get that with pictures sometimes. But as long as you're credited and linked it's a huge compliment. How funny that you don't remember submitting the piece!
ReplyDeleteI don't tweet either. :)
Again, you've managed to put into words what flows through the muck in my brain... I swear on my life I've had that same "leaf on the windshield" experience while sitting in traffic while my son seized or barfed in the back of the van. The experiences most "normal" parents would be freaking out over have become zen moments for us. Just be... We've had the experience of no seizures when ill too, I think it is being in ketosis for a short amount of time. And I respectfully disagree with "just me", the word "twat" is a fine word and the main reason yours is the only parent blog I read! :)
ReplyDeleteI mentioned the word "twat" because, where I come from, it is pejorative for vagina. And i don't come from far....
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