Voices

The final prompt for Diabetes Blog Week 2011 is to chronicle what you've learned from participating in the blogging community - either since discovering the DOC or during this week of blogging.

My initial thoughts drift to all of the new voices I've discovered this week that I had never had the pleasure of hearing before.

People like Haley (an inspiring teen with diabetes blogging at Naturally Sweett), Mike (of What Some Would Call Lies), Penny (of A Sweet Grace) and Reyna (hilarious - of Beta Buddies) and Joanne (who is a part of a local group of D-parents I stalk and I had no idea was behind Death of a Pancreas until I found out she won Chick-Fil-A mom of the year and I put two and two together (and got mor chikn)).

As a voice teacher, discovering new voices is both my work and my pleasure. Every single voice is unique - actually having a mappable, traceable vocal fingerprint that is unlike any other voice's that ever existed.

That always blows my mind when I think about it in terms of singers.

But when I think about it in terms of D-bloggers, it warms my heart.

Each of us has something to share and there is space enough here in the big blue DOC to share it. All week, we read one another's stories, made each other laugh and cry, and offered big, sloppy low blood sugar kisses and finger-pricked high fives.

We're here. Each of us. Coming out as health activists, real people living with a very real though invisible disease. And we become more united with events like this.

We took the time this week to knock on our neighbors' doors and borrow a cup of...um...poison. Yeah. For cookies...made with poison.

Smooth CGMSailing and Flatline Glucoasters to all...and to all a good night.