Jeb, I love that you've connected what happens in your online community to how you relate to your real-life community. I tend to put them side-by-side, to do a compare and contrast. But they're very related, as you point out. I love this: "it took connecting with people all over the world to bring me back around to what I firmly believe is the natural human state. Namely, the desire for communion with others. Here, there, everywhere." I'm so glad I can be a part of it all, too.

Cheryl, you bring up many great points. And maybe I'm thinking about it this way, because I just responded to Jeb's comment, but I see a pattern, here. It's not about either-or—real life or online. It isn't about comparing and contrasting, which is better, which is worse, how should one change the other. It's about finding ways to bring the two together, making each of them more powerful. The sum is bigger than its parts sort of thing. I think this is true of blending on line and real-life giving, too.