Nablopomo for July: Connect

Connect with Others with July's NaBloPoMo

So what is the NaBloPoMo theme of the month?

CONNECT
Every human being needs to feel connected to something larger than herself, whether that be other people, an idea, a religion, or a movement. Humans are not meant to be solitary, exploring life on our own. E.M. Foster in Howard's End said, "only connect!" in order to "live in fragments no longer."

This month, we're going to be exploring that idea of connection. We're going to look at the ways we socialize on the Internet, and the importance of face-to-face time. We're going to be looking at missed connections, and the ones that have changed our lives. We'll look back on your first days of blogging, and think ahead to the future and all the connections that are waiting for you.

That's from the website.  Here's what the email said.

Hopefully, at the end of this month, you'll be at the annual BlogHer conference in Chicago and have a chance to connect with some of your favourite bloggers face-to-face.  But even if you're staying at home this year, this month's NaBloPoMo theme is all about getting together with other people, since, as John Donne said, "no [wo]man is an island."
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So come write about your connections.  Reflect on the first connections you made with people via the Internet, and muse on the ones that may happen in the future.  We'll be talking about the various ways we're already connected, and the ways we can become connected.

I don't have to use the prompts, or even think about connections the way that NaBloPoMo implies.  I have my own way of writing about connections--Barry Commoner's way.

1. Everything Is Connected to Everything Else. There is one ecosphere for all living organisms and what affects one, affects all.
2. Everything Must Go Somewhere. There is no "waste" in nature and there is no "away" to which things can be thrown.
3. Nature Knows Best. Humankind has fashioned technology to improve upon nature, but such change in a natural system is, says Commoner, "likely to be detrimental to that system."
4. There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch. Exploitation of nature will inevitably involve the conversion of resources from useful to useless forms.

I consider these laws so important, I have them on the inside cover of my environmental science lab manual and test my students on them.  I also ask them to give examples of each in my worksheet for Food, Inc.  It's even more important that the Sustainability Dozen.  I'm sure I can point out examples of each of Commoner's laws in my posts this month.

So start thinking about connections and sign up for July's NaBloPoMo.

I've been doing the first for years and did the second last week.  I'm ready.