Amanda's Adventures and New Product Reviews

I'm trying to write more as a regular habit. There's a lot that goes on in this brain and heart and mind, but sometimes, I keep it too bottled up inside. The last week has brought out a lot of emotions in me with the finale of Lost. Of course, it's just a TV show, and I know that. But it's also the end of an era for the community. We will still talk about the show for years to come and will still will be friends, but we've lost the thread that keeps us together. I'm so thankful for these online friends (and some that have transformed into real-world ones thanks to last weekend). I'm a little worried that we'll lose our tenuous grip on our friendship. But maybe I just need to have faith that we found each other in the first place, so things will continue. I feel a bit like I did at graduation. You're excited that everything is ending and a new chapter is here, but it's terrifying too. It's been harder in a weird way to watch other finales....

In the old days, the answer to this question was easy. Your community was made up on your neighbors. What you had in common was location. Other people in other hamlets may have the same interests as you, but you'd never have the chance to meet them. You lived your whole life in obscurity, without knowing the world around you. Everything has changed. Thanks to readily available transportation, mass communication, and the Internet, it's so much easier to find those who share the same interests as you. And what a blessing! It's so wonderful to live in the 21st century where you can find people who share a common interest, no matter where they live!

It's been five days since the Lost finale, and I'm still thinking about it. Is that crazy? Why yes, but the best stories grab a hold of your heart, mind, and soul, and won't let you go. The more I think about it, the more I think about C.S. Lewis. He was very aware of the truth that life on this mortal sphere is just the beginning. There is more. So much more. He ends the Narnia series with this fantastic sentiment: “...for them, it was only the beginning of the true story, which goes on forever, and in which every chapter is better than the one before." It is so delightful to me that Lost ended with a new beginning. There is so much more to the story. We're not privy to it, but we can imagine what life will be like for this ragtag bunch of lost souls. They're together in the afterlife, where their past does matter. They've been redeemed. And what a redemption Jack had. that was quite a conversation he had with Christian. His death as a martyr will go...

What a delight to have a news story to remember this amazing weekend. I have much more to say, but this is a start.