A question for you all

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So we’re at 50,000 views and this blog has become a wonderful place where people can exchange thoughts and ideas. Some are Camino related, but often they’re not. And these discussions are often the most fascinating!

I love it.

Today is a perfect example, where several of you are swapping comments amongst yourselves, and I’m just sitting back, trying to write my book, 😜, and really enjoying what’s being discussed.

But I’m wondering, should I set up a forum attached to this site, to make it easier for you to really follow a thread, and comment?

This is not to shift these exchanges off this blog, it’s to provide a fully functional venue where it’s easier and simpler to post comments.

Also, it would mean that any one of you could also start up a topic. I don’t necessarily have to kick it off with a new post. You could initiate a discussion yourselves.

I would keep blogging – and I could imagine sometimes comments on the blog could spill over into the forum.

Let me know if you think this is a good idea or not. It’s really to make it easier for you all to have these vigorous and fascinating discussions within an environment that properly caters for it.

I would love to hear your thoughts on it!

Bill

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91 thoughts on “A question for you all”

  1. An easier forum may be to setup a PGS Facebook Group page. You could invite people to your group page.

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    • Hi Kat – since returning from the Camino I’ve become Facebook averse!

      πŸ™‚

      Also, I don’t know if it’s the best way to exchange ideas necessarily. Not sure.

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  4. Bill et al,
    Hello from the middle of the Canadian prairies. I feel a bit handicapped because I just have my iPhone for communication, so am waiting til I get home in a day or so to join some amazing discussions here. Thank you for the last post where you brought up the reasons for walking and repeating the Camino! I have really been wanting to explore that topic and here you started the discussion! I have read some posts with some wonderful insights. I am also smiling to myself because I think I remember Bill saying he was going to do weekly posts only after returning home….Fridays wasn’t it?
    πŸ˜€ love it.
    Debra
    As for a forum I will think about that.

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    • Hi Debra – there HAS been some amazing stuff discussed here over the past few days. And yes, I remember saying I’d only post weekly. That lasted about three days! πŸ™‚

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  5. I thought carefully before I responded directly to Rosa the other day – I was so aware this is “Bill’s Blog” and not a public forum – I even considered sending him my reply and letting him put it up if he didn’t mind….but then I realised that even though I don’t *know* him, I knew he would be OK with me chipping in, and I left my two cents’ worth. This post vindicates me!
    Don’t mind how you proceed Bill!

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    • That’s great Rachael – yes, I hope that I’ve created a place here where everyone can contribute, and bypass me entirely!

      It gives me great pleasure to watch these king of exchanges, and I learn from all this cross flow of information, knowledge and wisdom.

      Bill

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  6. I also have a FB account, but I truthfully dislike that arena, so I agree with kitkatknit and Debra. I do consistently check the Camino de Santiago Forum (and occassionally comment there). I follow your blog as well as Steve’s (just recently signed up for that one) and a few other Camino related blogs.
    In my humble (as it is) opinion, I think you, Bill, spur these discussions into being by something you write and to set up something off-blog simply would not be as spontaneous as today’s example of comments/discussion.
    Arlene

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  7. I think you know what my vote at this time is, Bill. Having said that, I.need to add a personal opinion here-and please, its just my feeling, and I respect everyone who feels differently-but I loathe Facebook. You couldn’t pay me to start my own page, or visit someone elses. Obviously, you don’t need me to create your forum or facebook page or however you envision it, so I don’t expect my opinion to have any influence at all.That’s probably why its easy for me to express it. Just my two cents.

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    • Hi Sister – it’s funny but I used to post on FB regularly. And by regularly I mean about half a dozen times a day. But invariably it was posting articles from news sources, or from film industry “trades.”

      But since returning from the Camino, I’ve developed a strong aversion to FB. I understand and acknowledge that it can be very useful for bringing people together – as has been the case in political rallies in Egypt and elsewhere – and it can also be very beneficial in business – promoting movies for instance.

      Ingrid with her FB Camino group is using the good aspects of social networking, but her group is moderated very carefully. And it’s selective in who it invites to join the group. It’s the way FB should be used.

      But often I find that FB is full of trivia, or people posturing. And I don’t have time for that anymore.

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  8. Bill, After reflecting on this idea for the past couple of days and reading the comments above, I definitely am against FB (call it a prejudice) and I guess I like the forum as it exists under your blog. This all came about because of your input and your energy and all of these people are attracted to you, Bill Bennett. I will go wherever you decide you want to go, and perhaps I am just being a little narrow minded, but you have something special here. I am sure there are other forums not to mention the Camino Forum where a multitude of things are discussed, but this one feels at home to me or rather I feel at home on it. I pay a lot more attention to yours than I do to mine. Shoot, after making all the comments required on yours, I no longer have time for mine.
    πŸ™‚ Steve

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    • Steve, bravo – well said! I love this blog and the forum of followers/commenters it has brought together! – Arlene

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    • Ah Steve – you ought to get up earlier mate!

      πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

      But seriously, thank you. It’s very gratifying.

      What about though having a place where other people can raise topics? I’m sure you’d have things to toss into the ring –

      The thing about this blog is that I post something, then others comment, and then from those comments other stuff arises. Often that other stuff is where the real substance lies. And within that other stuff, cross posting happens.

      That’s why I raise this forum thing – to make it easier for all that to happen. And of course I would have a presence on that forum, but I wouldn’t be the sole instigator of topics.

      The other thing is that I believe I can get a forum plugin – so that it would be a part of this blog anyway…

      Bill

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      • Bill, I repeat. I will go where you go and I will support whatever decision you make 100%. With this group, anything is possible, and I don’t have the same clarity of vision of your vision as you do, but I know you well enough that if “you build it they will come”. Count me in. Steve

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  10. I want to read everything from everyone who comes to your blog. Separate threads would make it more difficult to get everything from everyone. It’s the side tracks and then back on track all in one long string that gives a special dimension. When I can just scroll down, all the perceptions are contributed in the order they occur. It’s wonderful juxtapositions. When I’ve belonged to forums, I tend to give up because I just miss too many of the side trails. It’s your blog, but you asked, so that’s my reaction. You’ve got a great thing going here. Thank you.

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    • Barbara, your comments are the kind of feedback that I’ve been seeking, thank you. And believe me, it would save me a lot of technical bother if I didn’t have to set up a forum.

      But let me ask you, and others – what happens when I go away for a period – to shoot a movie for instance. These blogs require constant oxygen.

      (by the way, every time I reply to one of your comments, I have to check my spelling and grammar. And make sure I’ve made no literary inconsistencies!)

      πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

      Bill

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      • Bill, so many of us write blogs, if we were to mention them and their link, we could all increase our readership and possibly spur similar discussions should you have to be absent. —- Just a thought. Through this very blog, I have begun following Steve’s blog.. How many others are out there?
        Mine is not being updated as frequently as yours but with my upcoming Camino, I should be updating it more frequently and will definitely be doing so in September and October while on Camino. Right now I’m not sure how many followers would be interested in my desert southwest training so therefore have not been posting too often.
        And as for checking spelling and grammar, even some of us who studied the same sometimes make mistakes. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I love your writing!
        Arlene

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        • Arlene, You have to know the rest of the story. My sister, Barbara, was a college english and writing teacher with a PhD in Creative Writing. So, that is why Bill, jokingly, said he has to be careful how he responds to her. She caught him in a messed up metaphor or whatever you calal it the other day. All in good sport. Steve

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          • Steve, I’m going to repeat what I said to Bill……I just love this platform, it’s great! Now I can see more of Bill’s joking side. Thanks for the clarification.

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          • Well said. You have no time to be writing a book. πŸ™‚ Good thing you and all your followers are independently wealthy, because none obviously have time for work because of this blog. πŸ™‚

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        • Thanks Arlene –

          And thanks too Sister.

          The impression I’m getting is that I shouldn’t fix what’s not broke…

          (grammar alert! – ha ha – Barbara is a very fine editor with a PhD in Creative Writing. She astutely pulled me up on an inconsistent literary allusion the other day. I have a very playful respect for her!)

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      • I’m pretty sure that for those periods when you had to reduce your input, Bill, your Camino family would be happy to fill in for you.
        And,Barb-you said it perfectly. I couldnt agree more.

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      • Hmmmm. Well, you could appoint a substitute blogger/manager to keep it going, or we could just all catch our breath and wait with baited breath for your return and the next entry.

        As to the spelling and grammar, I started a blog about five years ago. Langham Lines at barblangham@wordpress.com. It has five entries, I think, and so many typos I had to go back and correct, that I just stopped, turned tail and ran. I have a (inactive while I care for Mom) PR firm. What kind of editor and writer leaves typos for all the world (and clients) to see. I could blame the haste of squeezing thing in between Mom/Dad, clients and more. I could blame bad glasses I wouldn’t take time to get updated.. Lack of an outside proofreader to help. Or a dozen other things. As I cower just thinking about it, I ADMIRE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH because you are every bit as busy and just keep it all going. I do now have new glasses. πŸ™‚

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        • Thanks Barbara – I’m lucky in that my wife takes up the reins a fair bit while I’m working. And all our kids are now doing their own thing. So apart from watching the Sydney Swans and the Australian Cricket Team, I have plenty of time.

          The Ashes though is starting in a little over a week – (cricket.) – there are five matches, each match is five days duration, each day is 7 hrs of cricket – so THAT’s going to eat into my writing time!

          Writing though is hard. or at least I should say, GOOD writing is hard. Bad writing is easy.

          Bill

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        • Barb, when you get the grammar blog up and running again, I worked summers when I was a student as a proofreader. In case you’re looking….

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          • Thank you. I can’t do it right now, but these blogs are making me miss it. — To miss writing, period. When I start again, you will be the very first to know. And maybe with your kind offer, I can return to it sooner.

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          • I look forward to it. I love words-was owner and managing editor of three weekly newspapers, and had a couple of books published long, long, ago. Happily I do a lot of writing for the Order and on my own stuff, otherwise Id be missing it terribly.

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    • I kind of agree with Barbara. I like looking at and exploring idea after idea with one another. I can’t think of any other place where this kind of focussed exchange can take place.
      And isn’t this all contributing to your PGS research? πŸ˜‰
      Perhaps because you are working towards that film, you are continually being inspired to explore very unique and pertinent questions/topics, which when you throw them out there inspire thoughtful and thought-provoking responses.

      To me it is not quite the same as a forum.

      I am not saying no, since I am not that savvy in this area and it is not my place, just saying I really am enjoying this exchange.

      And here I am typing on my iPhone after all…ha!
      Debra

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      • Hi Debra – you’re right in that the blog is throwing up some great material for the film.

        And that’s the reason I decided, before starting the Camino, to link my walk in with PGS. And as you know, I did the pilgrimage intuitively.

        I explore that in greater detail in the book.

        Bill

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  12. Bill, Upon reflecting more on the subject, I think the debate over what format is used to continue is moot. You simply do not have time to go off and do a movie again as you are too tied down to this monster you created, so you will always be here to lead intellectually stimulating dialogue with your minions. Steve

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  13. Hi Bill – if you could do a forum attached to this blog, that would be great. Even though you’ve got the technical hassle of setting it all up in the first place, in the long run it’ll be a lot easier for you to manage, especially, as you say, if you’re away doing a movie. This incredible blog is your ‘ship to navigate’; you’re the Captain and you need to do what works best for you. A forum attached to the blog would still feel personal in my view.
    I’m on the caminodesantiago.me forum too, I only click on the threads I’m interested in, and I occasionally post (JennyH94), like Arlene (hi Arlene!). It’s so huge that I just look at it in a ‘micro’ kind of way – by just clicking on the threads that I’m interested in, and the thing I love about it is the spirited exchanges between some of the veteran and not-so-veteran posters (the odd nasty comment notwithstanding) … maybe within the PGS family we could have something similar but more personal and intimate.
    Your turn on the Bridge Captain Bill!
    Cheers – Jenny

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    • Huh – I’d just decided it was not such a good idea and your comment here Jenny has made me rethink!!

      There are some good aspects to it, and some that wouldn’t work as well as this blog.

      I’m going to sit on it a few days – but I do like the notion that a forum would allow others to initiate topics for discussion, rather than me taking the lead all the time.

      Bill

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      • You will lose the “family”feeling you have now when everyone is off following different threads.It will be very divisive , and could sever some of the mutual support members now give each other, as the group would never again be all of us together all the time in one place.

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      • I could not agree with Sister any more than I do after reading her last comment. There is such a feeling of “family” and comfort here. The feeling I get on the Forum is so much different, I often feel that the posts there are given with an air of “I know better than you” which is why I don’t post there too often. I would not like to see that happen for us, your followers.

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  14. This is my last oar on the subject, promise. But since most of us here also belong to the caminoforum, which has hundreds of threads to follow, do we really need a second version of that ,when this blog works so well and so uniquely?

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      • Then I’ve got all the feedback I need – thank you.

        I will keep things as they are –

        Done and dusted.

        PGSTHE WAY.COM lives to blog another day.

        I will later today be putting up my next post – Status and hierarchy on the Camino.

        Should open up plenty of discussion!

        Bill

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      • Jenny H – thank you – that’s lovely of you to say.

        I get a great deal of enjoyment out of doing this – and I regard it as part of the reason I walked the Camino. To be a communicator to others of what it all means.

        Bill

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  15. WHEW, I’m SO relieved that since I was late (again) to read the latest post, the rest of you have done all the work, written all the words, set all the trends, decided against FB (thank goodness!) and decided on what I thought was the only way forward – staying as we are!! Looking forward to the next ‘trend’!!

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    • Hi Bhasma – yep, this is a very democratic site!

      If everyone had decided to migrate over to a forum, then I would have set that up.

      But this blog seems to be working fine!

      Sometimes it’s good to visit us late in the day, when all the big decisions have been made!

      πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

      Bill

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      • The only thing about a forum that might easier to find an old topic that you wanted to look at again, see if some new comments were made. I have not had any luck with the follow up comments coming to my email (even though I check it below).from something I posted, so I go back and search through everything to see if someone had some insight for me. It can be time consuming to relocate. But that might be the only advantage.Example is that I wanted to read Steve’s wife’s blog and asked for it, but I never could find where that was and if he gave it to me. But I am just loving reading all that you interesting people are sharing.

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  16. I would love a place to discuss the ideas and questions posed in your blog. I love the idea of a forum or Facebook page. I happen to like Facebook but am not sure how well it is set up for discussions. I do hope you will do one or the other.

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  18. Im late in replying as well….I couldn’t believe it when I came home tonight and there were 54 PGS comments in my inbox. How fabulous!

    For me…Facebook wouldn’t be an option.
    As any comments I post (on a public facebook site) can be seen by everyone…that are my friends. And family. You cant hide those. As far as I can see on face book that is.

    I am totally truthful to Bill and everyone on here…accept my name. This anonymity allows me to speak freely, to not be judged. NZ is a small place with only 2 degrees of separation and I have already had my Camino Forum comments found by a work colleague who has miss-used them :o(.
    If this blog was on Facebook…I would retreat back to my cave and just observe from afar.

    I was thinking today about how this blog has morphed……morphed from a digital journal, to this amazing reflective resource. That is helping people process their fears before stepping onto the Camino, there thoughts while doing it and most importantly…a way to de-tangle all the emotions, and questions that come post -camino.

    I also like…that the topics and comments are so up-lifting. I love my PGS family. Arleen, Sister, Ingrid, Steve, (cheeky Jabba) all of you.
    I have revealed stuff about myself that perhaps I wouldn’t to anyone else…and I sense others on here have to.
    It seems that Bill has created a place where people feel comfortable to let their own barriers down.

    So while I have thanked Bill before for setting up this blog….I want to thank all of you who post on here. It is a privilege to be able to read about your journeys before, during and after the Camino.

    Thank you.

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    • Hi Abbey, you have no idea how much it pleases me to read this.

      This started off as merely a convenient way for my family some close friends to keep updated on my progress while I walked.

      In a short time it’s morphed into something else – a place where people, pilgrims and yet to be pilgrims – can feel comfortable enough, and safe enough, to discuss things that are important to them.

      It’s sad to hear that someone might pull your comments off another site and use them to try and embarrass you.

      That’s something we all must strive to do here – keep it safe, keep it respectful, keep it the kind of place where you and others feel they express themselves honestly, and personally.

      Bill

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      • QUOTE:That’s something we all must strive to do here – keep it safe, keep it respectful, keep it the kind of place where you and others feel they express themselves honestly, and personally

        Absolutely Bill :o)

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    • Hi Abbey. I think I can understand your feelings about not having your private feelings revealed to the world.When I began to work as a Spiritual Advisor/Counsellor I quickly saw it was so much easier for people to open up even their most sensitive feelings and fears once I assured them it was all absolutely confidential.We are always so close to other people, especially living in big cities, that we give up.on expecting privacy, and thats a mistake.Everyone needs to have a place or a part of themselves thats just for themselves, unless they decide to let someone in. And we need to respect that. How many times do you hear someone practically begging for a bit of private information, or find something you shared trusting it wouldn’t go further being broadcast at work?Some things sre for sharing, others for tucking away in your soul-and we need to remember to respect the boundaries people set. Its just human kindness, after all!

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      • So very true Sister.
        May be that’s another reason…people like the Camino.
        You meet people that you know you will probably never see again….so there is no reason to hide anything. You can just be YOU.
        You can forget you are Banker, a plumber, a farmer, a student……you can leave all those labels behind you and just be YOU.
        Sometimes though it can be a shock when you finally meet yourself. :o)

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    • Abbey, What a wonderful and insightful thing to say. There is nothing as powerful as being able to be 100% yourself and just put it out for all to chew on. That takes courage and strength. It does not matter that you need to maintain your anonymity. Doesn’t matter with this group anyway, because in truth, we are all anonymous. But to protect yourself from small minded friends. You made the right decision. Discretion is a virtue. Continue to open up and we will continue to love you. We will continue to love you even if you don’t. Steve

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