“…if we understand community as a place to mature our practice of steadiness, patience, and compassion, to become conscious together with others, then we have the fertile soil of awakening.”
~After the Ecstasy, The Laundry

Welcome to OpenLinkNight everyone! My name is Brian Miller and I will be you pub tender tonight. The above quote came from a post last week, where I hosted another community of writers. I was telling the story, my story, of the Virginia Tech shootings.

I arrived on campus a couple hours after the tragedy and spent the next couple days just loving on the students that were left in a state of shock. I sat under trees, listened, talked, gave hugs—lots of hugs.

The point of my post was that we all need those connections—that community—whether in time of trial or celebration. That is the essence of OpenLinkNight for me. When I click on your link, I don’t know what to expect, but I open that door.

When I leave that comment, I don’t know if you need it, or if you will return one to my place, but I open the conversation. Thank you to all those that are building that community here, one conversation at a time.

To me, you are the real artists here. It does not mean that you comment on tens or even hundreds, maybe its just a handful—and that goes a long way. Cause you never know who needed that nod of the head—-to write the next one.

If this is your first time here, let me point you in the right direction:

• Post a poem to your blog,
• Link your poem to dVerse (1 per blog, please) by clicking on the Mr.Linky button below.
• This opens a new screen where you’ll enter your information, and where you also choose links to read. Once you have pasted your poem’s blog url and entered your name, click Submit. Don’t worry if you don’t see your name right away.
• Don’t forget to let your readers know where you’re linking up and encourage them to participate by including a link to dVerse in your blog post.
• Visit as many other poems/poets as you like or can, letting others know what you think about their poem or how it moved you. You may learn something that helps you progress or even make a new friend.
• Spread the word on the poems you enjoy if you’d like. Feel free to tweet and share on the social media of your choice.

See You on the trail….