Today was a homemade chili and cornbread kind of day, so I just finished making a huge pot.

Autumn is here. I have never been good at making suitable quantities - which is funny, because it is only Jason and I. Every time I cook I could feed eight people at least.  Quite possibly this over cooking is me secretly hoping that if someone shows up at my door unannounced at least I will have lots to share.

I also just finished replying to a ton of messages that I have been meaning to reply to. That happens. I sometimes receive a hundred non-work related messages a day and at times I just don't get back to all of them. Eventually I do, but it sometimes takes awhile, especially if it is one of those "intro" emails where I need to share the entire gamut of what has happened.  I am online  and connected all the time. Aren't we all?  

Sometimes I hate that and not because I don't want to help, but because so much of "it" is sharing.  Alot of spreading awareness is constantly being connected and inviting people into your life.  Sometimes, I hate that I am next to my phone all the time...it really looks like I have nothing to do but be online :P.  But, that is how things are done in this era.

I just finished replying to a couple messages that have been sitting in my inbox for a couple months. I find the more you share, the more others share with you.  

I receive emails from people I don't know, new patients, and non HIBM patients, all the time.  I've done several speeches about my condition; some at work, some in conferences and it never fails that at LEAST one person comes up and says "I am or I have an aunt, child, uncle, sister, brother, child, mother, father, friend...that is struggling with...(insert word here)."   

Here on my blog I talk about HIBM, but the struggles are not just about me and I am not the only one struggling. We all do, no matter how big or small. We are just vessels constantly bumping into each other and most of the time know nothing about those we bump into.

Think of how many people we pass or even know in our own personal life that we never take the time to "see" or understand where they are coming from. We assume and we don't spend the time.  I feel we are here to share, because honestly what is the purpose of our life if we don't?  We can't just be here for ourselves and ourselves alone.

With that, I just finished my pages of reply to this person that I have never met in my life.  I re-read their email and this individual's journey of THEIR condition, unrelated to HIBM. I consider it a privilege to be able to be, in some part, a part of the lives. No matter where we live in the world - "we" are never dissimilar from each other and the line of connection never too short.

 Well, time to go inhale this chili mess fest I created. I guess we will be eating it all week long. ;)