Welcome to my blog

Thank you for visiting my blog. A little over a week ago, I was not sure what a blog was and had never thought of having one myself. However, I found myself in the middle of a forced vacation due to a bad asthma flare up. I wasn't well enough to do much and web-surfing gave me a way to occupy my time. I found that going to sites such as StumbleUpon and ClipMarks was a lot of fun for me and also was leading me to some thinking and reflecting that I needed to do. I started feeling more relaxed and a bit more secure in my work and my future, in spite of the fact that I wasn't actually doing any work.

After some time stumbling and clipping, I thought blogging might also be a fun hobby. So, I visited a bunch of blogs, read some articles on blogging, subscribed to ProBlogger, and started a blog, but I still didn't know what I really wanted it to be about or what I wanted to write in it.

I now have at least a fuzzy goal for the blog, which is somewhat captured in the title "Reflections on the Journey." I like to think of life as a journey. One of my favorite quotations is from the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien) when Frodo looks out at the road past BagEnd and thinks of all the places that road goes. That seems to me to be a great metaphor for life.

I think that a lot of the quality of that journey is related to our reflections. We hear a lot about the dark side of the internet, but I have been so amazed in the past week at all the good stuff that is now so much more readily experienced in some form at least through the web. When I read interesting tidbits, see funny or beautiful photos, read about the hobbies that are inspiring other people, read about or see pictures of places I'd like to visit, or read articles that are in some way thought provoking, I find myself thinking much differently than I am when just faced with the humdrum of every day life. I am at least for a time lifted out of whatever problems are going on around me, and the part of my brain that I use for math gets a little time to play with problems without my interference or awareness. I feel refreshed and happier.

The internet has another quality, which has both a good side and a dark side. Unlike reading the same stories in a newspaper, the web connects me immediately to other people who are enjoying the same stories. I see their comments or at least that others like the same thing, and I have the chance to share my discoveries.

So, that gives me the purpose for my blog -- I see this as a place where I can share stories, tidbits, pictures, and my reflections on things that I find to be in some way edifying.

I'll probably write a personal post only once or twice a week since it takes me awhile to figure out what I want to say. However, I'll probably post a few clips or photos from the web daily.

If you are enjoying what you see here, please visit often and let me hear from you.

Andrea Jo