"Together" makes the difference

September has been a big blogging month for me - my first full month writing here, a focused month of writing on authenticity at my Confident Writing blog, and reading, writing, learning and sharing from the contributions at the 'Make a Difference' forum.

I wasn't sure how I could boil down my learnings from all this into something remotely rapid fire, so I'm grateful to Greg for the mind map but also the final challenge, which gave me the hook for identifying my main learning points.

He challenged us to do this:

Review this months posts and pick one distinction or learning that really resonates with you and integrate it by putting it into action in your life. Then make a point by letting the author know what you learned and what you did to integrate what you learned from their words. Taking this extra step will help to build their identity, confidence, and teach you to recognize those who have impacted and helped you.

Now I'm adapting this a bit - because I'm going to identify five learning areas and five pieces of writing that helped me to learn - but it comes from a specific phrase that he used

"what you learned from their words"

Words and writing are my thing.  I love writing - but I love reading too, and I love the way we can write and read together, weaving our words together, developing a richer narrative from the interconnections that they make.  And the main learning point for me this month is how we can learn together, grow in confidence together, tell a different sort of story together.

What I learned from the WORDS here was this:

W: Words can make a difference in the place where we work.  Dwayne's piece on zombies muttering 'what difference can we make' inspired my second ever podcast on how we can use word power at work to prove we're humans, not zombies - thank you!

O: Other people's words and stories can inspire us, spur us on to bigger and better things.  Reading the commentary on the collaborative learning song - and the series of interactions that went with it, about being part of a team, encouraging each other, providing mutual support - well it was great to read, share and be a part of

R: Words can resonate when they come from deep inside us.  My words touched Karen's in some way, and her writing touched, inspired, moved I don't know how many of us - all over the world

D: Writing with distinction, learning how to toot sweetly, is something we should all aspire to - and writing, working, learning together will help us to do it - quicker, louder, with lots of honking!

S: Narrow your focus and your words will hit the spot.  One I'm going to keep learning to learn - and apply next month as I focus on writing with clarity...

For me this forum, this learning community is not a series of essays.  It's a web of stories, ideas, words, learning, possibilities that we have woven together, that develops, evolves, turns into something new, different, intriguing, possible - right in front of our eyes. 

We have all talked about ways that we are learning to make a difference.  But sharing that learning together is what really makes the difference.

---

Joanna Young writes at Confident Writing on how we can realise the power of our words. 

Writing, learning, reading together is one of the most powerful ways of doing that so please feel free to hop on over and join her there...

She's been focused this month on what it means to write with authenticity - moving on in October to focus on writing with clarity. 

Comments

[Rosa Say]

Love your WORDS adaptation for Rapid Fire Learning Joanna! This would be a wonderful monthly template for you here :)

You are such a strong concept connector. I so admire the way you repeatedly (here, and on your own blogs) can bring your reading and learning in blog-related activities back to your own core purpose (your Ho‘ohana!) writing and the language of intention.

[Karen Wallace]

"It's a web of stories, ideas, words, learning, possibilities that we have woven together, that develops, evolves, turns into something new, different, intriguing, possible - right in front of our eyes."

Joanna - you have the ability to conjure words almost magically together - and this metaphor of a web being woven is brilliant!

You're right - it IS a web that we have woven together, each connecting, joining, spreading further - like a spiderweb strung high between two trees that grows unchecked, becoming more intricate and more beautiful as it grows, sparkling like diamonds when the sun hits the early morning dew on its strands.

When inspiration is slow in arriving, I am going to remember this picture you have written and draw strength and courage from knowing that each piece we write is another strand in the web. That no matter whether we know the overall design or not, our words will connect somewhere, somehow.

[Joanna Young]

Rosa, thank you for this feedback - and I like the idea of the template for the future. I have learned so much from you about focus and intention and I'm glad you're starting to see some of the results!

Karen, you know you have a pretty mean way with words yourself. What a beautiful description of the web. See what I mean - I know have a much stronger visual picture of that web in the morning light - which will go on to inspire me, too.

Joanna

[Steve Sherlock]

Very well done Joanna!

Rosa, Karen - Honk! Honk!

What a fun place to be!