Balcony People

A few years ago I read this book, called Balcony People.  It is a small book that draws your attention to the people who have and continue to stand in your balcony.  The people who cheer you on, encourage you, and energize you with affirmation.  I remember while reading the book, I made a mental list of those people in my life who have and continue to stand in my balcony.  I remember that some of those people stepped into my life for just a moment in time, while others had been an ongoing presence for years.

I appreciate my balcony people. . . they have been the spring boards from which I have stepped throughout my life.  However, when I made that list I never thought that I would discover balcony people through the crazy world wide web.  Specifically, the blogosphere.

There are days when I wonder if I’m wasting my time coming back to this space to pour out my strange, pointless and slightly neurotic thoughts.  Days when I wonder if it’s worth the risk of putting myself out there in both the big and little things.

Yesterday, though, I was reminded why I do it.

I just want to say thank you for the comments to yesterday’s blog.  Thank you for taking the time to empathize with and normalize my thoughts and feelings.  Some of you I have known for years and others I only know through the words we share in this incredible little community.  Each of you, though, are standing in my balcony.

Thank you for your willingness to stand in my balcony. . . even if you didn’t know it.

It is hard to explain how I feel when I get a comment to something I have written or when I hear your experiences and your thoughts and feelings.  I feel a part of a community that is outside the box of my physical community.  I have found this community to be incredibly supportive and accepting even though we don’t see each other face to face.  In a way, you are helping me to raise my kids and dive into life in a way that is deeper and more real than I ever had before.

Thank you is so inadequate, yet thank you is all I have. Thank you for commenting.  Thank you for following.  Thank you for walking with me through life in this very unique way. 

I am so honored to be a part of all that this is.  I am better for it and honestly. . .

. . . so are my kids.