From the very first night that Randy and I began talking, we used hashtags to communicate with each other – within texts, emails, direct messages (DMs)…
For anyone who thinks a hashtag is something that was voted on in the California election, a brilliant person on Twitter created a way to track conversations in the Twitter stream by adding a pound sign/hashtag (“#”) before a topic/event name. For instance, someone might create “#Election2010”. You are then able to search within your twitter tools and find Tweets with that hashtag and follow what people are saying about that topic.
This is like learning the secret handshake, isn’t it?!
(You’re welcome.)
It didn’t take long for people to start creating funny hashtags as well. There is a lot of hashtag abuse, and I am so guilty of it. For me, it’s often something that I might mumble under my breath. Or add as a “PS”. It gives a little bit more insight into what I am tweeting about.
When I look back through our old texts and DMs (yep, we saved ’em all), they are littered with hashtags. Most of them became part of our story.
#LTLF, #INCS, #TeamUs, #LifeBoat #Believe, #One, #NoFear, #Breathe #4Kidz
When I arrived in Birmingham the first time and Randy brought me home, he had written some of these on the white board that hangs in the kitchen. Together we added to it and together we committed that neither of us would remove any of the words without the other (read: no getting angry and wiping it clean…).
It wasn’t until the day we left for Maryland, to (hopefully) get the kids that we erased the board and made it a family board:
They were already a part of it, but we wanted it to be a place where we communicate with each other throughout the day and week.
Randy and I drew our welcome home message and left room for the kids to add theirs:
Since then, it has become a place for celebrating birthdays:
Celebrating being a family:
Celebrating homecomings:
Celebrating holidays:
It is a way for us to stay connected. To enjoy everyday celebrations and joys. It’s a daily reminder of what we are about and who we are. A family trying to live purposefully.
Love this! Too sweet and very special. =)
That is both a charming post, and one from which some of us might well learn something useful for our own families. Thanks much for that. I’m thinking now in terms of where might we put up the extra white board, that’s not a calendar.
And yes, I have noticed since following you both on twitter, that you are prolific hashtag-ers (it does sound vaguely Californian, doesn’t it) Does the “Family trying to live purposefully” have something to do with the book A Purpose Driven Life(or something like that)? – No, I haven’t read it.
Again,
thanks for the post.
John Ross – Portland
OH.
My heart.
<3
What a fantastic idea! I love ways to help the family communicate better – this is a great one! Thanks do much for sharing!
It has so much meaning in our home, Fiona. The kids are always excited to see the messages on it change :)