an introduction.

After I graduated from Faulkner, I felt a little empty inside. Life was going great, I had a job, Jordan and I were engaged, but... there was a hole.

After months of searching, I finally discovered what was missing from my life: discourse.

Discussion.

The free and open exchange of ideas.

I started a blog. I began emailing friends from college and from my internship who I shared common ideas with. Those emails and blog comments were helpful, but they've diminished over the past several months. Life gets busy, and sadly, I don't always have time to sit and write lengthy emails to faraway friends-- even if they are kindred spirits. It's hard to strike that balance between retaining old friends and making new ones. Slowly, I began to find peace and purpose in where I was. I made new friends, formed new bonds.

For once, I feel comfortable and content where I am (mostly).

But I still miss open discussion about spirituality, creativity.

Then this week, I logged onto Spring. It's a new project I found out about via a blog I read, and I think the concept is brilliant. Four ladies from four different cities and four different walks of life connected online, and now they're producing monthly videos about topics close to their heart and publishing them online. I watched, and I thought:

Why can't I do that?

Why can't, once a month, I sit down and video chat with my kindred spirits? In 2009, distance should be moot. We have telephones, Internet... I remember making three way calls when I was in 7th grade! What's stopping me now?

I'll admit, I've tried other things to keep in touch, to keep discourse alive. I've started a book club, created a joint blog... Some of these efforts fail, some succeed.

That's when this solution began to take fruition. This solution. An idea I'm calling chew*.

A place where kindred spirits can discuss topics like the Sabbath, church tradition, contentment, creativity, and passion.

These girls graciously agreed to join me.

In January, we'll start posting our thoughts via video. (If I can find a techie out there who can show me how.) Until then, let's get to know each other.

This week, if you can, post a bio of yourself. I know all of you, but you don't know each other. Explain who you are, what you're doing, what you're reaching for, and who you hope to become. Maybe let us all know what you'd like to come of these sessions.

I'm so excited about this endeavor. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I think this could be the start of something wonderful.