| Rayne Today Searching for dharma, in spite of the weather...
So close! It’s just about done, getting its last minute tweaks and adjustments right now: the End of Summer edition of Virtual Occoquan is almost ready! It’s a lot more work than I expected, primarily because this Salon Blog family has grown exponentially since the last edition I helped co-edit last year. Just look at my blog number, 1549 – the most recent blog number issued (within the last week) is 2862. 1313 new blogs here inside 11 months. Wow. Sure, only around 13% of the total number of Salon blogs opened are now or remain technically active, but really, WOW. Hundreds of blogs to plow through to look for content, any way you slice and dice it. That’s a lot of content. No offense to those who won’t be featured in this edition; there’s a truly awesome quantify of high quality writing and graphics here in Salon Blogs. Not only is there a Sometimes VO has been a bit more of a content free-for-all, when Mark’s been up to it as the main editor/producer. Having done this twice, I can vouch for the effort it takes to handle even material within a theme, let alone the entire spectrum within the Salon Blogs. Sweet Jesus, it’ll suck the wind out of your sails. He really does need his appointed co-editors just to make it a manageable process, with or without a theme. And I won’t even go into the non-Salon Blog content; it’s not a lot of VO by volume, but it’s growing and it’s good, too. Watch for it soon, be sure to watch Mark’s blog, Fried Green al Qaedas, for the release. Thanks to all of you Salon Bloggers for keeping it real, for writing and creating such great stuff. You’re a treat to hang with and to work with.  comment []
WARNING: Slow blogging today – editing for the next VO underway I’m up to my eyeballs in Salon blogs right now, combing through the post-blackout wreckage and the ashes of a European heat wave, looking for the End of Summer edition, guest-edited by yours truly. It’s not a destination; it’s a process, a slow unwinding of the build-up of hubris and excess that is the height of summer. It’s an ending, not an end that I'm seeking. I’ll be sifting for quite a while here. Feel free to post a comment or send me an email, let me know if you found someone’s work to be the embodiment of the End of Summer. Going back to work now. Really. comment []
For a blog friend I’ll be sending positive thoughts your way, hoping you get through this time with a minimum of discomfort. In two weeks the divorce becomes final. It’s a painful step; there’s simply no effortless, pain-free way to be removed, excised, divided from a person you loved and to whom you were committed. A twinge of remorse or regret, some emotion is to be expected -- even if you have moved on with your life in the wake of the rather unexpected unilateral departure from the entity that you were together. It's okay, buddy, it will be okay. Sometimes we have to bring death to that which cannot be salvaged. It's a creative force that opens the door to renewed life energy. Our challenge is knowing when we can no longer rescue or reclaim something, when we must bring death. It's tempting to be a superhero and make extreme efforts at resuscitation. We internalize transitions like this as signs of failure when in truth they may be necessary passages. A painful lesson in love and life ended; a blank slate before starting the next lesson before you. The truth is that it's often far kinder to everyone to mark the passing, acknowledge the loss, sweep up and start again. It's no less painful in the short-term. Over the long run, it’s far less ugly; there’s far less brutality inflicted on those hearts concerned. It’s a do-over, man. They aren't given to us often. Go ahead, make the most of this gift. comment []
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