Seven Link Challenge

One of my favorite bloggers, unquenchable Stef of the extraordinary Smile, Kiddo has invited me to participate in a “Seven Links Challenge” (more very soon.) I’m an easily discouraged perfectionist, so my first reaction was, Are you kidding? No way.

But Stef said Hey, it’s supposed to be fun! Go for it! And when Stef suggests things in her smiling way, there’s somehow an overtone of (maybe even grinning?) I double dare ya! So I turned my head around, looked back over the past 13 months of Touch2Touch,  and this is what I saw:

1.  Most Beautiful Post: This was tough. Beauty for me, like Keats, just about equates with truth.  So there are a lot of entries, among them The Shawling Snow and Sequence of a Sunset, and Tucson in a Different Mood.

2. Most Popular Post: Besides Home and About Me, Lonely Angel was the winner. About touch and connections and linked to the amazing youtube Free Hugs, Lonely Angel embodies T2T’s mission and motto, “Only connect.” In Praise of Doubt and reprises was close behind.

3. Most Controversial Post: Controversy isn’t my style, but every once in a while an emotion wells up so strongly that it can’t be contained, and I let loose, as in What Does Freedom Mean, which I felt compelled to follow up with A Paradox, Now in Plain English, perhaps because this was also

4. The Post That Didn’t Get the Attention (I think) it Deserved. That may not be a coincidence. Perhaps it’s because people prefer “easy listening” posts to “gotta think about this one.’” Perhaps when I get too emotionally involved, I also get carried away. It’s a toss-up; if you have an opinion on this I’d be interested to hear it.

5. Surprisingly Successful Post: Definitely It’s the White Hair That Does It. It was frivolous and fun (although truthful).For runner-up I’d choose Guess What?, which was picked up by commenters and turned into a wonderful storytelling game that surprised me most of all!

6. Most Helpful Post: After a lifetime of immersion in reading, writing, meditation, Buddhism, spiritual search, wisdom traditions, the whole deal, I can only hope that a little of it comes through. Two possibilities: Buddhas– and Ordinary People —  and An Invitation to Happiness. If you’ve followed my blog and found something helpful, I’d love to hear about it.

7. Most Proud-of Post: Here I feel the mother instinct — I love just about all of them. If we’re talking about seriousness of intent, then I’d choose Even the Heavens Wept, about the devastating tsunami in Japan), and Final Exam and Face-Blind, both at the interface of medicine and our lives).

See Stef, I did it! So there — 😀  And what did I find? That if posts are about numbers and getting depressed by statistics, I was right. I don’t have the numbers — But if we’re talking about quality — of the connections, of the conversation, of what this kaleidescopic blog is for and about — then I have the best readers and viewers in the world, who amply reward me for every post. My fervent thanks to each and every one of you.

And now the fun part of the challenge, when I get to tap other bloggers to participate. I’m asking:

Pauline, the doyenne of Writing Down the Words, poet, photographer, writer, naturalist, wise woman, and more attributes than I can list —

Jen, whose Random Acts of Writing are funny and profound and witty and beautiful by turns, and often all at once.

Rebekah, whose Colder Weather is spiced with a Swedish-Canadian accent, and whose deep kinship with birds and beasts is amazing.

Adrienne, of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, whose new blog features amazingly sure and profound and  balanced posts about people, places, and events in one of the world’s great cities (I was born in it!), Brooklyn, New York.

Let the wild rumpus begin!

 (You’ve already read such a long way that I feel guilty even suggesting you take a look at my other blog A View from the Woods. But not so guilty as to leave it out!)