Hi folks! You must be wondering…what a strange title I’ve given to this post. Allow me to explain.
I recently started this blog site (“Light Always”) to write about my faith and life, and to date, I have published 10 posts here. Surprisingly, the ideas keep flowing easily — which is a good thing as it means that I am no longer a victim of the plague that every author dreads: the writer’s block.
So, to celebrate the unclogging of my brain from writer’s block (a condition I have been suffering from for far too long), and for future inspiration, I have decided that each time I complete 10 posts, I’ll publish a little “newsletter” as a wrap-up to reflect on these posts, and to motivate me to write 10 more, and more, and more… 🙂
I’ve named my newsletter Tenacity — the quality or state of being tenacious. (Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary describes “tenacious” as “persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired”). I think that definition just about explains my purpose of publishing these newsletters. It’s my way of keeping track and reflecting on my writings — 10 posts at time (hence, “Tenacity”).
Without further ado, I bring you Issue 1 of Tenacity, a roundup of my blogs from June 21, 2017 to July 14, 2017. You will also find out how my blogging on WordPress introduced my mum to the world wide web.
Welcome to Issue 1 of Tenacity! The past month has been a very exciting time for me as I embarked on a journey of self-discovery and was introduced into the wonderful blogging community in WordPress.
My coverage from June 21 to July 14
Since last month, I have covered 10 posts, ranging from evolution and creationism, faith and devotions, technology and communication, my great fashion faux pas of hiking in heels (true story!), among other things. This thing called blogging has finally activated my “curiosity button”. Nothing seems to escape my attention these days — even a Hollywood movie managed to bring home to me the true meaning of an old hymn.
In “Showing that you care: Calling or texting?”, I even got to reminisce about my Grandma’s phone bench — a neat wooden telephone bench, with a beautiful maroon-coloured velvet seat cushion, and a small built-in shelf for storing the phone directory and address book, which took a prominent position in my childhood home.
I also realised that Science never fails to fascinate me. An interesting discovery where researchers turned water into “virtual lemonade” made me think about faith and life. In “When life throws you lemons…”, I touched on the benefits of real refreshment on the physical (and later, spiritual) level:
“While there are certainly advantages to drinking a virtual lemonade, one wonders though whether the drink is as refreshing and satisfying as a tall glass of lemonade made from real lemons? Does it provide the same ‘zing’ that we get from a glass of lemonade on a hot summer day? Can it reinvigorate us, re-energise us, or quench our thirst the way a simple glass of freshly-squeezed lemonade can?”
How blogging on WordPress introduced my mum to the world wide web
Besides being introduced into the wonderful blogging community in WordPress, I’ve also discovered my most loyal reader of all time and one of my biggest cheerleaders in life — my mum.
My mum and I live about 6,150 km (about 3821 miles) apart — that’s the distance between Brisbane (Australia) and Singapore. Most of the time, we keep in touch with each other through text messages every few days and a phone call every now and then. It is hard to share all the details of our lives and our thoughts through these messages and phone calls.
When I started blogging on Light Always in June this year, I texted my mum the web link to my first post and explained to her that she needed to press on the link for it to reach the website. Prior to this, my mum had never accessed the internet and was not familiar with the world wide web. However, she eventually managed to access my blog site from her smartphone in Singapore and has been reading my blogs ever since then.
Once, I recall that she had texted me and complained that my post was “very short”. I gathered that she must have read the synopsis and not clicked on the “Continue reading” link.
My text reply to my mum:
“Did you click on “continue”?”
She replied 10 minutes later:
“Now I get it but I am reading (the gospel of) John from my Bible. Very nice. Now I am going to read your (post)”
My heart melted. In that particular post, I had written about the parable of the Good Shepherd and had referred to chapter 10 of the gospel of John where Jesus discusses this parable. I realised that not only was my mum’s technological knowledge expanding rapidly, but she was also deepening her understanding of the Scripture by cross-referring to the primary source (the Bible). As she is a relatively “young” Christian, it was heartwarming to learn about the effort that she was making in understanding the Bible.
At other times, my mum and I discuss my blog posts and spiritual matters on the phone. It is great to hear her enthusiasm and I am amazed at how well she remembers my writings.
I feel a deeper connection with my mum now than ever before.
The power of life-long learning
Light Always has become a new dimension for my mum to keep in touch with me. The web is a brand new world for her. She is a fast learner and is able to embrace any new things that come her way.
As a retiree who returned to the workforce post-retirement to keep herself busy, she is unstoppable!
My mum is the reason that I want to keep on writing and learning from this blog. I want to be unstoppable too. I want my writing ideas to flow persistently and tirelessly.
Folks, let’s not underestimate the power of life-long learning. Age is not a barrier to learn new things or pick up new skills in life. In fact, learning is a process of self-improvement at any stage in our life. Learning is about the ability to change with times, and the willingness to adapt to new situations. It is also about embracing life and always maintaining a child-like curiosity in us.
Thank you for reading Issue 1 of Tenacity. 🙂
Light Always 