Autumn in the North Cemetery.

Sixty miles west of Boston, Massachusetts there is the small New England town of Sturbridge. Located at the junction of I-90 (The Mass Pike), and I-84 it has become known as the "Crossroads of New England". The town was first settled over 300 years ago, and like other small New England towns it has grown just enough over the years to be in a difficult place today. How do we embrace the future without forgetting how we got to our present? How do we attract the right kind of growth, and maintain who we are? And, what about our culture out here in Central Massachusetts?



These pages will cause one to think about how to protect what we have, our future direction, and how to move on in the very best way.


Those thoughts, and other ramblings, will hopefully inspire more thought, conversation, action, and occasionally a smile...

...seems to be working so far

Friday, September 3, 2010

Thank You

This past Wednesday I received a couple of comments on the post I wrote about recess in school.  Please take a moment to read them.  Both were great, but one of them stuck out.  It was a good thirteen paragraphs long, but each one spoke to the reader.  The writer was  venting, letting go, and releasing all those long pent up feelings about society, and life.  It was  if a sigh had been held in for way too long, and was finally being exhaled.


The feeling after that last period was typed, and the "Post Comment" button pushed must have lightened the writer by years.


It is a catharsis.


Yesterday morning I received another comment from that writer, who signs themselves as "Maple Leaf":


"Thanks Wally. Yes, it sure is good to "hear" that others think the same way, and this page gives us the opportunity to say what we think without a "yeah but" breaking in while we say it. As you clearly know, when we just tell it like it is, it's like some power takes over and writes it for us. All we have to do is be there to work the computer keyboard. Thanks for providing the space, and keep up the good work."


--Maple Leaf


And, that was one of the reasons I started writing here.  "Telling it like it is" may not always accomplish what we would like, but it does a couple of things.  One thing it does is place reality right out there for all to see.  Others may have ignored, or hidden, the reality part in town politics, or some other issue, and when we "tell it like it is",  we show that we know, and we aren't going to pretend not to know.  It helps with how others choose their words in the future.  With other events, or issues it puts folks on notice to be careful when making a decision  that will affect many.  They will be challenged publicly.

Another thing it does is to put it out there as a matter of record.  A time stamped, written record.  No more can one say, "I didn't know", or "It wasn't made clear to me", or the famous, "I wish someone had said something".  It's there, and as with most everything on the internet, it will be there for a long time.


It is good to know that there are others out there that think similarly.  Makes me feel like we should form a club, or something.  Maybe even have a secret handshake; we already have our motto:


Tell it like it is.





2 comments:

  1. Thanks for opening the curtains, and the window itself. The fresh air and sunshine feels so good!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your own open way of writing, Sir, is why I read "Thinking Out Loud in Sturbridge."
    A big thank you and a hearty handshake to you!

    ReplyDelete



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