Why the New Blog?

With this being the first post, I thought it expedient to begin with the why. I am often disheartened about the state of humanity after watching all the crime and horrific events that so often saturate our news. There are times it feels like there are so many terrible things happening all over the world and even in our own towns and neighborhoods that the world is a scary and dangerous place to be. But then an elderly gentleman at the grocery store will offer to take my cart to the cart return when he sees my arms are full with children, or my neighbors will have blown the leaves off my lawn while I was out, or a complete stranger will see the look of distress on my face and offer the use of his cell phone and GPS when he realizes I am lost,and countless other incidents of a similar nature,I have to believe there really are a much greater number of good people out there than the few crazies that we so often hear about. So many individuals are out there doing extraordinary things whose stories are never told. Unfortunately, news stations have so much on their plates (there really is so much news, and so little time to cover it all) and pressure to get viewers that these stories rarely make it on air. I couldn't shake the thought that if news reports of crimes could result in "copy cat" acts of misconduct, couldn't the opposite also be true? Could sharing stories of the beautiful, inspiring things that people do spark "copy cat" acts of kindness? This became the birth of the idea for this site; a site I hope becomes a community where not only I can share stories and spotlight individuals who show heroism through reaching out to others with compassion , but a forum where any reader who desires can share their stories as well. A place where people can come to be inspired, and gain the courage to go out and become an everyday hero themselves. Is anyone wondering,"But why start this now, don't you have enough on your plate?" The answer is "yes I do!", but I have felt strongly compelled to create this site; The "now" is because events of last weekend led to particularly heroic action in my behalf (don't worry, you'll get the scoop in my next post)and I couldn't figure out the appropriate way to thank a virtual stranger for such incredible compassion. A simple thank you note or flowers just didn't seem quite enough, so I hope public acknowledgement may begin to suffice...