Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 58 seconds

First of all, I have to say, Maha, if we could harness your energy for writing and learning and turn it into electricity, you’d solve our global energy crisis! Your thoughts are like tiny coals that blow into a fire in my mind. I just said “This is one of the most interesting experiences I have ever had, and yet it has elements similar to lots of other experiences I have had over the past year or so.”–almost verbatim today to a friend. Almost verbatim. (He looked at me like I was crazy, btw).

If I could just add more to what daveh70 has said, then I’ll feel better. I struggle with forums, blogs, and G. Docs, and wikis in my work. I feel like when I do all of the above, I think to myself “huh, well, that’s cool/true/untrue/weird/lame/like/unlike, etc”–choose the word. And then I move on to the next thing. I rarely return to any of those collaborations, but the Fed Wiki and its Recent Changes puts it all right in my face–even if I don’t understand it. I’ve used the word “recursivity” as a writer many many times, but this is the first time it *feels* authentic.

The fedwiki has me pausing in a way that I haven’t done in years. Here’s how I’m trying think about it. Say you climb to a snowy field as a hiker on a clear sunny day, the sun is brutal to your eyes. You immediately look for sunglasses or a hat. You shield your eyes. The movement from the dirt to the snow is almost painful. But really, if you just sit still and pause, your eyes will acclimate. Like when you flick on a light switch in a dark room.

It’s the pause that’s working me. And by the way, I have no idea what I’m doing when I’m in there, but it feels like something.