Greetings. I’m currently traveling with my grandson Mikah and will return next week. In the meantime, I hope you’ll take a look at my proposed mission statement for my blog. And, at the end, use the link to hop over to Survey Monkey and fill out my latest questionnaire.
And So It Goes provides a safe online place to share stories of how culture impacts our lives. If we’re lucky, we get to laugh in the process.
And So It Goes attracts readers who
* are curious about their world and their place in it.
* are open to learning about other cultures, different from theirs.
* believe that appreciating cultural differences is an ennobling act, enlarging our own world and enhancing our own experience.
I thought it important to put into writing just why I do this blog, for me if not for my subscribers and readers. The above is the result of my first stab.
Please click here for this year’s Survey Monkey. It’ll stay live until January 8, 2017.
See you next year.
Next: Jan 4: My Cuba Trip: The Pre-View
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Marian Beaman
You know I share your heartbeat here, not just tolerating other cultures, but appreciating them too. I especially liked, “appreciating cultural differences is an ennobling act.”
Now over to Survey Monkey . . .
Happy New Year, Janet and Woody!
Janet Givens
S’paceba, mi amiga. (yeah, yeah; I know).
Jerry Waxler
I’m intrigued!! I recently learned that Ronni Bennett’s excellent elder story sharing blog was shutting down. It was one of the few places I’ve run into on the internet where story tellers could share stories. (other than their own blogs of course) and Sonia Marsh’s Gutsy stories offered similar opportunities. I have been struggling to keep my own blog going in 2016 but I still believe in it, and believe that we need to continue to support each other’s efforts to keep the Memoir Revolution alive and give each other voices to share our stories. Is that what you intend to do? Is this a departure from your existing blog, an addition, or am I misunderstanding?
Keep it going Janet! Yay! Writing and reading are solo, but the internet gives us the opportunity to turn literature into a social movement.
Best wishes
Jerry Waxler
Author of Memoir Revolution
Janet Givens
Hi Jerry,
My blog aims at challenging my readers (and me) to think about things we’ve taken for granted and look at them anew.
Perhaps raising awareness is a more apt description of what I aim for, but not in a self-help way (there are already enough blogs for that and subscriber Laurie Buchanan has a good one). And not specifically in a way that emphasizes memoir writing, though that is, as we both know, an excellent avenue (and Kathy Pooler’s does that one well).
I focus on raising awareness of the power of culture because it was the focus of my memoir. And somehow (as these things do) this blog has morphed from one where I posted my dead darlings (you know; those scenes we must cut out of the final manuscript because we’ve already made the point and how many times do you really need to show that life was hard?) to one that I think is much more expanded. My recent series on What we can do in the wake of the election is a case in point, though I am tempted now and again to make the “cultural divide” case for it.
Many of my careers over the years have focused on helping others (and myself) expand, grow, and feel more. I guess I’ve just fallen back into that.
Does that help explain this a bit? Btw, thanks for your note in the survey. We can continue this next week after my life has return to a more normal routine. Thanks so much for your support.
Laurie Buchanan
Janet — I’m a huge proponent of broadening one’s horizons. I just took the survey!
Janet Givens
Thanks Laurie. I’d love to chat with you more about these mission statements. Your next book sounds timely. I’m wondering, for example, the difference between a tag line (which you use to great effect) and a simple mission statement. I’m thinking they often achieve the same thing. (and frankly, I think what I really want is a tag line).
Laurie Buchanan
Janet — To my way of thinking it is possible that a tagline can stand in good stead for a mission statement. In my next book—The Business of Being—I’m going to share a few mission statements from corporations and businesses that most people are familiar with (Starbuck’s, Whole Foods, Ben & Jerry’s).
The reason I asked for permission to share your mission statement in the book (if you decide to go that route), is to show readers that mission statements aren’t exclusive to the world of business; that we as individuals should each create one, and by gosh, even a blog can have one!
I leave Sunday (Jan 8) for a 3-month sabbatical to complete “The Business of Being.” I will only be online on Tuesdays. You’ll read more about the adventure in this coming Tuesday’s post: “Looking for Laurie.”
Merril Smith
Hi Janet, I’m sure your mission statement helps you to clarify what you want to do with your blog. I just took the survey.
Hope you have a wonderful trip!
Janet Givens
Gracias, mi amiga.
Tim Fearnside
Survey complete!
Janet Givens
Gracias, mi amigo.
My Mission – Janet Givens
[…] few weeks ago, I posted my “Proposed Mission Statement” and asked for your feedback via Survey Monkey. I thank you for taking the time. Here is […]