Blogging helps to create communities. We are exposed to people from all around the world, some of whom may be like us, but many of whom are quite different. What is critical is that we interact with each other—we “like” and comment on the postings of others. All of this takes place in a virtual world and we develop relationships in that world. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could meet each other in person, in “real” life?
It may sound like the story line for a corny Hollywood movie, but an American photographer recently met an Irish poet in Paris, thanks to the efforts of a New Zealand blogger who had much earlier highlighted their respective blogs. As you might suspect, I am that photographer; Damien Donnelly of deuxiemepeaupoetry.com is that poet; and Liz Cowburn of exploringcolour.wordpress.com is that blogger.
Several days ago I said a few words about Damien when I re-blogged one of his postings with photos from our time inside the Grand Palais in Paris, so his name may sound familiar. When I first made plans to visit Paris, I thought there might be a chance that I could meet Damien, but what I did not realize at that time was that he was preparing to leave Paris. As it turned out, I made it to Paris before he left.
We agreed to meet for lunch. Have you ever met someone in person that you met initially on-line? Did you worry that the on-line “persona” would not mesh with reality? I really encourage you to read Damien’s poetry, which I previously characterized as “personal and universal,” and I can reassure you that he is just as thoughtful, introspective, and engaging in person. During our lunch together, we shared deeply details about our personal lives and our connection with Paris.
One of the things I remember best was Damien’s description of how long it took to reach the point when he felt comfortable telling people that he was a “poet.” You see, like many creative people, Damien has a full-time job and crafts his verbal art in the remaining time. Gradually, though, writing appears to have taken on a greater role in his life. As of a few day ago, he no longer has that full-time job and in a few more days he is leaving Paris.
Is he calling it quits? As the French would say, “au contraire”—Damien is in fact returning to Ireland to pursue a dream. You can read more about it in the “About Me” section of his website, but the essence is that he plans to find and renovate a property in Ireland that will serve as a writers’ retreat and bed-and-breakfast. Damien is also working on a novel and I believe more of his poetry is about to be published.
Why am I writing all of this? First of all, I want to let you all know how wonderful it is when the virtual world and the real world overlap—meeting and spending time with Damien was one of the highlights of my three weeks in Paris. I hope to have the chance to meet more of my readers whom I consider friends. Maybe New Zealand?
Secondly, I am personally inspired by someone who decides at age 44 to go all in on his passion, who has the courage to radically change the course of his life in pursuit of his creative vision.
Let me end with the words of a short poem that Damien posted a few days ago, part of a series of poems as he prepares to leave Paris. This one was entitled “Bookends; Timing is Everything.” (In order to get the full impact of the poem, you should click on the name of the poem which is a link to the original posting with Damien’s accompanying photograph and brief words of explanation.)
“Coming in
is easy.
Learning when to leave
is an art
not easily understood.”
Damien in the Grand Palais
Damien in the Grand Palais
Damien and me after lunch.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
That is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
I had been hoping you would write of your meeting. And very well done too. Ellen and I went ‘all in’ a little over three years ago. However, we waited a bit longer before jumping off 😀.
Beautiful story Mike – it was really special you were both able to meet in Paris before Dami leaves. Stunning photos, and thanks for the mention. It’s a bit of a hop but you’d love it here in New Zealand!
You never know, Liz. I am more or less retired now and have a pretty good number of frequent flyer miles that could help me get there. Paris was quite familiar, while New Zealand would definitely be a totally new adventure. Having dreams and aspirations is a good thing, as I pointed out in the posting. I hope that it was not too much over the top. 🙂
It’s a fab post Mike and I’ve just tweeted a link on Twitter. Well done!
How lovely that you managed to meet up. I have met in person with several people who I first knew from online interactions and I have yet to regret it. Everyone I have met has been authentic to how they are online. It is also lovely to see a portrait of you showcased on your blog.
You know, Laura, that you are well within driving distance from me. 🙂 I rarely take selfies, but made an exception with Damien, though I should note that I took it with my Canon DSLR at arms length and not with a cell phone. 🙂
Maybe someday we too will meet. 😀
Enjoyed hearing this story about you and Damien uniting, Mike, and how the connection was manifested. I have met up with a few fellow bloggers and all three of them have made a meaningful addition to my life. Learning about their lives outside of my intimate circle, and sharing info year after year, seeing their posts, and remembering the time we were able to meet one another..it’s all been great fun. It takes some guts to make the connection, but I have never been disappointed, and clearly you haven’t either.
Thanks, Jet. When you read a person’s prose or poetry over a period of time or see images they have taken, you get a real feel for the person that goes way beyond what a dating profile or Facebook postings would give. You are definitely someone I would like to meet and now that I have retired, my chances of making it out to the West Coast have increased greatly. 🙂
I would love to meet up with you, Mike. I can take you for a driving tour of SF, or show you around the Wine Country, or anything you want. That’d be great fun!
What a joy to come home, even if that home is now an empty apartment with two large semi-packed suitcases in the middle of what used to be the living room but is now just a former lived-in room, and see this wonderful post Mike. Thank you. I have been wandering around Paris these past few days, floating through memories of what was and looking through the lens trying to capture glimpses of what may be and, of course, I will now add our meeting as a part of those collected memories and hope also, that the lens manages to capture more of these meetings, and most definitely a New Zealand one would be amazing to thank the effervescent Liz for her contributions, concerns, connections and collaborations.
I never considered myself as brave, I always thought of myself as a child who was never given the rule book of adulthood, but maybe to battle on blindly into age and its revelations is what being brave is all about. Time will tell what will be understood, for now I am taking lessons in leaving. Au revoir mon ami
I’ve met a few of the bloggers I read and they’ve all been very nice people. I would jump at the chance to meet others, in fact.
This is a great story, Mike. I have met (personally) people that I met first onlline. I’ve never been disappointed.
I have had that opportunity to meet, face to face, people I have met and gotten to know online. When I taught English as a Second Language at the University of Maryland, I became involved with an online community of practice called the Webheads. Webheads are ESL/EFL teachers around the world who are interested in using web technology to supplement or substitute for f2f teaching. We learned from each other and worked together on online conferences and seminars; we used to meet every Sunday in a virtual space called Tapped In, and we explored Second Life together. Sometimes, due to international conferences or other travel, we had opportunities to meet other webheads face to face. Someone created a web page dedicated to photos of f2f webhead encounters around the world. When you see those images, the delight we took in those meetings is very apparent. I personally had f2f meetings with webhead friends at conventions in Seattle, Portland, Dallas, Boston, New York, Toronto, New Orleans, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, as well as informal encounters at home and in Paris and Lamia, Greece, where I attended the wedding of a fellow webhead in 2015. The webheads I met at those conventions were citizens or residents of such far-flung countries as Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, the U.A.E., Kuwait, Tajikistan, Taiwan, Japan, and more. Meeting them in person was a thrill I never tired of.
How wonderful that you got to meet your friend Damien!
Thanks for sharing!
His poem is a collection of truth. It is hard knowing what time is the right time…or what words are the right words. And sometimes selfies are actually good…such as yours with Damien. 🙂
I’ve only met one of my blogging friends, Tom Whelan whom I mention because I think you see his blog also, but hope to meet others over time.
Thanks, Steve. I have read a lot of Damien’s poetry and many of the poems are deeply introspective. The last month he has done a series of poems focused on his preparing to depart his beloved Paris. Some look to the past and some are related to his current feelings. I generally am not a huge fan of poetry, but somehow I “get” many of Damien’s poems. I kind of go overboard in objecting to selfies–they can serve a useful purpose, but some people get over-fixated on recording their own face, in my humble opinion.
I agree, Mike. It took me a while to make an image for my gravatar and I have posted a couple elsewhere but I’d rather share something attractive. 🙂 Selfies have become some folks be all and end all. https://sggphoto.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/selfie-point.jpg
I really don’t have a meme or cartoon for every topic, but this one fits.
I have subscribed to Damien’s blog but will return and read some of his poems.
[…] a chance to meet Damien in person, shortly before his return to Ireland—check out my blog posting Paris Portraits: Damien. Damien is amazingly creative and has done video versions of a number of his poems that he has […]
[…] How did this happen? How did I fall under the sway of this poetry organization? It began quite modestly when I subscribed to the blog of Irish poet, Damien B. Donnelly. A few months later I had the pleasure of meeting Damien in person in Paris in November 2019—you can read all about our encounter in my blog posting entitled Paris Portraits: Damien. […]