Last Post of 2008: Resolutions, Pt. 2.

Video: “Hanabi” (Fireworks) by Mr. Children

It’s time for my end of the year retrospective, along with my web resolutions. Since this blog is only three months old, it’s my first end of year retrospective. So I’ll try to make it good.

As most of you know, bigWOWO started as a kind of experiment, a place to share activist ideas.  Non-activists and activist thought don’t seem to mix well, and I needed a new place to take my views and experiences.  My intent was to create a place where experience had value,  where people were not offended or afraid when others challenged their views, where people acted in a civil manner towards one another, and where we could encourage people to seek activist experiences for themselves in order to enrich the lives of both other people and themselves.  I wasn’t sure where it was going to go; I just figured I’d start posting away.  In the very short time I’ve been blogging here, it has morphed into a more personal, more interactive place than anything I had imagined.  We’ve got blogging, commentary, podcasts, and people occassionally getting hot and angry.  Who could ask for anything more?

Anyway, one thing that I noticed–and that I really like–is that bigWOWO tends to attract an experienced crowd.  We’ve got activists like Jason, Winnovation, Joseph, Akrypti, and myself, an Asian American knowledge superstar in Larry, a fitness expert in James, former military men like TMM, and mommies and daddies like MamaNabi and Papa2Hapa.  I’m loving the crowd because everyone has a story to tell based on achievements and experience rather than theory (which quite honestly can often be..well…wrong).

I think we’re off to a great start, and I’ve got lots of ideas for the future.  In the future, we may have a forum where people can create new topics and swap advice on a variety of stuff, such as fitness, child-raising, etc.  So for my resolution: I resolve to do what I can to make this site even better!  If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to send them.  Please continue to post comments too–that’s my favorite part of blogging. 

In closing, I’d like to share one last thought:

I was reading a post on Mama Nabi’s new site about her daughter’s sleeping habits and how she decided to bring Little Nabi to sleep with her, something that most doctors and specialists say is a bigNONO (haha…I’m so clever sometimes!).  The doctors and specialists advise against co-sleeping because they don’t want to create dependence in kids.  Mama Nabi decided to do it anyway, and it turned out to be the right decision, as LN has no problems now.

I was touched by Mama Nabi’s story because to me, that’s the essence of both good parenthood AND good activism.  You hear the facts, you assess the situation, and then you act.  People are going to criticize what you do, but you make your own decisions.  There are few paths that one knows to be 100% correct, and oftentimes one has to rely on instinct.  Some solutions may work for some people, while other solutions may work for others–we all come from different backgrounds, and there are few universal courses of action that work for everyone.  We can have our differences, and in most cases, we can respect them.  The one important idea is that we always have to move forward.

Anyway, that’s my final thought for 2008. 

Thank you all for reading and contributing, and I look forward to talking to you all after the New Year!

Related posts:

1. Resolutions, Pt. 1
2. The Post-PUA Era of the Asian American Blogosphere
3. The World Outside and the Post-Election Portland Fervor