The Southwest Voice

Think of it this way: on Yahoo.com, MySpace.com, Blogspot.com, and a thousand other places, users can have a personal page generally consisting of the opening page, reviews, a list of friends and the blog. 

More people than I expected are using the blogs to post some very interesting stuff, often for the sheer fun of free expression. Spend some time browsing the SW Voice blogs at www.swvoice.com .

This morning I did a search for the keyword, “poetry,” and found 120,900 different personal pages on Yahoo.

Last fall I did a search like that and found a woman who posts outstanding poetry several times a week. She blends art masterpieces, thoughtful poetry and sometimes music to make a fun blog. People comment on her blog and she replies. Her poetry is one example of the powerful poetry being written in 2007, away from the publishing houses. I visit her page every time I go online. Many of her ‘friends’ are also writing poetry and very exciting non-fiction. They write about love, kids, the weather, global warming, the Super Bowl, and –– once in a while –– politics. Most of it is inspiring and fun to read.

The movie “Freedom Writers” was about people discovering themselves and their potential. Online, people with a serious health issue can connect and express their feelings.

One woman I read is typical of many others. She has cancer and blogs about the disease, but also about love found and lost, her response to treatment and diagnoses, and at times the weather. Her words are from the heart, and in the replies by her readers I find compassion and goodness.

Recently, I was invited to join a group called the 360 Writers Union.  Periodically, a topic, called a challenge, is posted for the Union members. 

The first assignment was to describe the area where we live. Different writers used photography to enhance their essays, others music, but all wrote from experience about places I did not know. Another challenge was to choose one of a set of photos and write about that. I did a CSI approach to a photo and was amazed at the positive comments made by other writers.

With about 100 Union members, I can see 100 different ways to write about the same topic and learn about the writers at the same time.

I know there are bad folks online, but there is so much more than that.

Editor's note: Start your own blog today for FREE at: www.swvoice.com