{"id":6241,"date":"2012-07-01T06:50:48","date_gmt":"2012-07-01T10:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/?p=6241"},"modified":"2012-07-03T14:45:32","modified_gmt":"2012-07-03T18:45:32","slug":"sunday-sermon-my-keynote-to-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/sunday-sermon-my-keynote-to-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Sermon – My Keynote to You…"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nEven if no one else is listening, my voice is important to me. But, chances are, someone is listening. Now that BlogPaws has officially come and gone, whether through comments on my blog, posts other bloggers have done, personal emails to me, comments I have made on other blogs, photos, facebook chat, and so much more, I noticed a subliminal undercurrent of conversation this past week and decided I wanted my own keynote speech to all of you.<\/p>\n

I can assure you when I first started Zee & Zoey\u2019s Chronicle Connection, it would be an exaggeration if even crickets were paying attention. I spent a lot of time blogging to myself but never entertained the thought that maybe I should stop because no one was listening. I once read an insightful post from renowned blogger, Seth Godin, that if you are blogging for the comments and the attention, then you might as well just stop now. It is a fact that a lot of people who read your blog will never comment, but that does not mean they are not listening, or caring, or learning, or being entertained, or whatever.<\/p>\n

I know that in the scheme of things, there are many more cat blogs that are far more popular than mine in terms of fans, comments and statistical traffic. But, truthfully, I also know that my blog is important, has made a difference, and does inspire. Even if it is only me it inspires, that in and of itself is important because it has made me a better guardian for the well-being of cats and my own personal self. But, I do know for a fact that my blog and my thoughts have given a voice and strength to other people, not just to help cats, but to help find the courage to follow dreams they have been hesitant about before.<\/p>\n

Positive thinking and believing in yourself is both powerful and contagious – all of that only benefits the animals we are trying to help. And that is an important point too – wolves, bears, seals, dogs, frogs, and more. I get dozens of emails a day asking for my help with these causes. While I don’t want to see any creature suffer and I give and help where I can, I have come to grips with the fact that I can’t help them all with proper justice. It is just too overwhelming, so I have picked my one true\u00a0passion, cats, and I\u00a0give to\u00a0it with everything I’ve got. That just works best for me.<\/p>\n

And that is one of\u00a0the messages I have learned this week listening to you\u00a0 – some of you are not quite certain of your voice yet and what works best for you. Some have alluded that their blog is humorous, so that doesn’t help cats, or some\u00a0 feel they are too new to blogging, so their story isn’t that\u00a0 important to tell. Or some\u00a0say, it\u2019s just a blog about my cat, so who really cares? I\u2019m here to tell you that each and every blog about cats is important, each for its own unique reason. Whether the blog be funny, or serious, or educational, or just a daily account of your cat Fluffy, it helps convey the message that cats matter and that if we so chose, we can help make the world a better place for them. What doesn’t help cats, is not talking about them at all. Trust me, people are listening and we can be vehicles for change if we accept and embrace that responsibility.<\/p>\n

For me, my voice is one of constant growth. I strive to continuously educate myself so that I can educate others in my own unique style. And don\u2019t get me wrong \u2013 I would love to win awards and have more facebook fans. I would love for my book to be selling better and I would like to be able to quit my day job so I could spend more time writing about cats. I would like to have more comments on my blog and I wish I could be on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. I\u2019m human and we all like to be appreciated and recognized for what we do. But honestly, at the end of the day, it\u2019s not about any of that. It\u2019s about getting up the next day and starting all over again with the intention to make it the best day you can. We are all important, we all have a voice, and together, we can make a difference. Clearly the goal of making sure each and every adoptable cat has a home one day \u00a0is one that we can achieve if we collectively persevere\u2026<\/p>\n

This beautiful photo was a sunset shot taken by Dan one evening while we were at the Florida Everglades, which is only a few minutes away from our house. He utilized a technique called “tonal mapping” to bring the colors to such a vivid display. It was the perfect image to convey my message and I am so blessed to have this talented man in my life!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even if no one else is listening, my voice is important to me. But, chances are, someone is listening. Now that BlogPaws has officially come and gone, whether through comments on my blog, posts other bloggers have done, personal emails to me, comments I have made on other blogs, photos, facebook chat, and so much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,3],"tags":[42,1265,385,84,384],"class_list":["post-6241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-blogging-writing","category-inspiration-healing","tag-blogpaws","tag-cats","tag-change","tag-inspiration-2","tag-lessons"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/INSPIRATION-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6241"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6268,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6241\/revisions\/6268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}