It takes an internet village to raise a child

It isn't everyday you come across something that would help shape your life. I came across this site when I was about 12 or 13, can't remember honestly and I've been a member there for about 5 years.

Recently I wrote a post on it. Here's the main segment of it:

I like to call this place a village, where people know each other well. Its a place where friendships are born. We know whats going on with our fellow villagers, who's getting married, who has a new family member, who's having a tough time in life and school, and we're willing to reach out a helping hand to those who need it and will accept it. We share our experiences, recepies, tales, jokes and ledgends to those who are willing to hear them. We welcome new comers. We mourn the members we've lost, and each saturday night, the bell will chime for people to gather at this place called the chatroom to hang out.

George and Ginger would be like the mayors of the town, and the admins patrolling. Wooden Nickel the guy who enjoys telling jokes to people and lessons in life. Hey, Hey, Paula announcing everybody's birthdays to the village so they know they aren't forgotten. MsPriss and Aromatics sending messages of love,care and hope to others. (not that I'm deliberately missing out people, there's too many to count :>

And everyone does their best to help improve the place.

Sounds pretty much like a village to me though I could be wrong.

I came across this place called USM when I was around 12 or 13, now I'm 17, my brother showed it to me and I thought "Hey this looks interesting" and signed up, little did I know that the time I spent on USM would help shape me as a person.

Ya see, I basically grew up from a kid into a young adult with USM watching me the entire time. I have much to thank it for, it taught me much about the lessons in life. USM has helped me and well somewhat guided me in my growing up in life.

The stories I've read, the experiences shared, told me about the world which I was sheltered from with my books. I learned compassion, I learned resiliance, I learned that people will still care for you even when you feel the whole world's against you. I learned about how it feels to loose someone whom you've never met but yet cared for. I've learned many other things and for that I have everybody to thank.

You see, in my life, I spend more time in school than at home. I spend more time with school or books than with my family. Yeah I dont have much of a life outside school. And even when I'm at home, I'll have work to do and so does my parents. They do their best to be there for me and I for them, but I suppose without USM I wouldn't be the person I am now.

They say it takes a village to raise a child, I suppose I would be one.

In USM I found a family, I found a second home, a place where I can turn to when I need a shoulder to cry on and know I'll always be welcomed back even though I'll be missing for an awfully long time. I found a place where people won't judge me for what race I am and where I'm from, you tend to forget about those things here ya know?

I'll never regret ever stumbling upon this site, this village, this place I call home, because this is one of the few places where I know that there are people who will be there for me when I need them, a place where I feel safe and loved.

Yep and so this is the village I call USM.

end transmission.

Yep it showed me things and made me experience things through another person. I've lost friends and gained friends there. Its a good place and a good village life. Sure feels awfully nice to be part of that community :)

Yep it taught me how to love and care for others more than I did before

Observations from the deck: The value of one blade of grass

What is the value of one blade of grass to you?

Consider the question before you proceed reading with this entry.
The question is asking you what do you think of a blade of grass.





Several times throughout my life, I have asked several friends, what is the value of one blade of grass, I never told them the reason why I did it, they never asked either, but allow me to say that this one showed me alot about the other person.

Answers I got varied from those of deep thought, like the grass is pretty lonely, to superficial, its just a blade of grass. The more indept the answer, the more prone the person is to taking time off from life to reflect and to think about their lives. The superficial ones on the other hand, are too caught up in mundane stuff, like keeping alive, finding whose the easiest guy/gal to date, whose at the top of the class, all those things.

Then there's more. From their answers, you'll be able to see how their thoughts go. I shall use the above example, "The blade of grass is pretty lonely". In that example, we know the person is lonely himself, and like the grass, despite having winds blown, being trampled on, is able to spring back up.

Another answer I ever received was that it was ment to be eaten. Now personally I have several intepretations for that, either the person was hungry or he's being slowly devoured by something else, school, family perhaps, leaving him no space to grow on is own.

Funny how you can actually draw out so much from that question alone, their train of thought, their personality, what they are experiencing... Though please, if one does want to actually apply such method for psychoanalysis, do it with good intentions for the other party.

The blade of grass, represents the person. Everything else represents the world.

Now I need you to listen closely to me, and listen carefully, and consider the meaning of what I say.

The value of one blade of grass is not to be underestimated, originally, all the grass in the world, must have come from one blade of grass, wouldn't you agree? Significantly, it represents that one person, can contribute so much to the world. Now lets back out of history and move into today.

A blade of grass today, would probably be found on a field, full of grass, it probably wouldn't be noticed by anyone passing by, unless it had an outstanding feature, like it was taller than a person, or pink in colour. Now lets move down to a more microscopic level.

The grass provides life for other creatures around it, the aphids, who in turn provide life to the ladybirds. The cows that chew them so that we will have dairy products and meat. To you, the blade of grass may not hold much importance, but to those creatures, it means their life to them.

Same goes to a person, you may not matter much to the world, but to those around you, you mean alot to them. You may not be able to affect the world, but you affect those around you, so take them in consideration in what you do and say.

The grass relies on the sun to give them life, people as well, we need a light in our lives, be it our own or others, to keep on living. Grass when woven together, make many objects doesn't it? A basket, a cricket? ^^

Then there are those grass that grow in odd places that catch your eye, like maybe on a cliffside or something, yep, those are the odd ones, but you have to admire them, they're at where you'd probably never risk to be. Same goes for our world, most people at catching other's attention cause they risk something and make it.

Holds alot information about life in one blade doesn't it?
So now ask yourself again the question,
What is the value of one blade of grass?