Like many other online people, I was intrigued when Matt Chevy put out a Tweet last fall asking for 5 people to participate in a “top secret” project he was working on.  Cautiously I responded to say I might be interested if he gave me more details.  I love collaborating with people online, but I like to make sure the project is solid and in-line with my writing style.

That was when I learned that the project was VERY cool and actually had NOTHING to do with writing.  Instead, it was a series of videos that Matt was inviting people to record for The Epiphany Moment.   He described it to me as a moment in my adult life (I’m still in my 20’s til May, I can claim I’m a young adult, right?!) when something just “clicked” and I made a major life decision.

Knowing what many of my peers would write about careers and living situations and education and first loves, I racked my brain to think of something that would be original and worthwhile to contribute.  A moment that would hopefully inspire and make people see life in a bit of a different light.  But what did I have to offer…I had taken many of the conventional and safe roads, nothing daring and outgoing…nothing good enough for the people who would read this.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that of course I had a story to tell.  When I was barely 21 years old I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, which is a chronic disease which causes widespread pain and tenderness throughout your entire body.  Sometimes I’m barely able to get out of bed in the morning, let alone go through my day.  Other times I have to ditch plans with friends and lay in a field feeling stupid and foolish.

Here’s the quick (less than 3 minutes) video I recorded about the decision I made:

Epiphany Moment – Elisa Doucette from Matt Cheuvront on Vimeo.

You can view the rest of the videos in this project here, they are all amazing in their own special way.

Listening To: I Have A Dream – Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia Soundtrack)

Ok, so that title makes a lot more sense when you hear the theme song from Welcome Back, Kotter in your head like I do (a little too frequently sometimes!)  But nonetheless it’s been ringing through as I get back into the swing of updating my own blog posts here on Ophelia’s Webb.

Don’t get me wrong…I don’t think I could have asked for a better anthology of posts on love than I got from the All You Need series.  And towards the end of February I really started to miss blogging.  But then March came and I stared at a blinking cursor, suddenly paralyzed by the idea of hitting publish.  Putting my OWN thoughts out to the world to read, writing tiny little pieces of internet manifesto for people to comment on, somehow keeping up the momentum and brilliance of my series and more importantly the other writers who contributed…all these things terrified me.

Photo Credit: Getty Images – Bavaria

But writing is kinda what I do, so I decided that it was time to push through and jump right back in.  Plus, I started getting really jealous reading all sorts of brilliant new posts in my Google Reader, Re-Tweets, and one of my favorite E-Books ever by Colin Wright.  And it was really getting taxing checking my TweetDeck every 3 minutes to avoid working.

Since there are many new readers round these parts, I figured I’d give everyone the low down on how stuff rolls out, how to connect with me OFF of Ophelia’s Webb, and other little goodies.

• New Posts come out here (on Ophelia’s Webb) on Tuesdays and Fridays.  Starting again in April every other week you can check out a newly profiled #BlogCrush to add new pretties to your Reader/Vibes/Etc.  Make sure you are subscribed to get all the new stuff.
• Most of my relationship adventures and love-dovey-mushy speak have moved off of Ophelia’s Webb to my relationship column on MaineToday.com, The Single Slice.  New articles hit there on Sundays and Thursdays.  You can check out the column here or just save yourself some time and effort and subscribe here.  Feel free to read and comment lots, it keeps me employed. 
• Any special content, like updates to the All You Need series, contests, etc will post on Mondays.
• To get a regular update of all the new posts, my brilliant status updates and photos of life in and around Greater Portland, Maine we should hook up on Facebook.
• Have stuff you’ve always wanted to ask me but maybe been a little too shy?  I signed up at Formspring so that you can do just that!
• I also still write for various websites, blogs, magazines, etc so make sure we are connected on Twitter so you can get those awesome bit.ly’s.

Most importantly, no matter where we connect, make sure to drop me a quick line to introduce yourself cause I love meeting new people!  Plus, that way I’ll know you aren’t a creeper.

Thanks for all the support throughout the All You Need series, there are still some great surprises that will be released in the upcoming weeks.  Hope my regular readers got as much out of all the amazing guest posts as I did, and I really appreciate you staying on.  Welcome to the new folks and enjoy the ride!

I want you to get swept away out there. I want you to levitate. I want you to…sing with rapture and dance like a dervish. Be deliriously happy, or at least leave yourself open to be. I know it’s a cornball thing. But love is passion, obsession, someone you can’t live without. I say, fall head over heels. Find someone you can love like crazy and who will love you the same way back. How do you find him? Well, you forget your head, and you listen to your heart. And I’m not hearing any heart. ‘Cause the truth is, honey, there’s no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love, well, you haven’t lived a life at all. But you have to try, ’cause if you haven’t tried, you haven’t lived.” – Anthony Hopkins role as “Bill Parrish” in the movie Meet Joe Black, heart to heart father/daughter talk

Love is a crazy, dizzy thing. Sometimes it’s all so beautiful I can hardly stand it. I want to capture it. So I take a photograph. To make time stand still. I freeze the moment for all eternity and hang that memory on a wall. But then that doesn’t seem like enough. The photograph allows me to recall that exact same vision I once had, but it doesn’t give me the movement. The way that one strand of hair kept blowing across her face, attempting to unite with her bottom lip. Or the way the early morning sunlight pardoned the rain, reflecting and dancing across the small of her back from the dusty windowpane.

There is video, but not even film can capture how the scent of her perfume and the warmth of her body lingers on my sheets, skin, and soul. Even with all the modern marvels of technology, you can’t completely recreate the image, the movement, the sensation, or the emotion tied to it all. I realize I can’t capture time the way she’s captured my heart, but I still want to live in that moment forever. I don’t want to ever forget how big she smiled, how sexy she danced, how long she laughed, how sweet she smelled, or how she made me fly. So what do I do?

I pull her close to me and hold her. Hold it. So I can remember this moment before it slips away. It makes me sad that moments like these pass as quickly as they came. And then it hits me. I may lose this very moment in time, but there will be plenty more moments in the future to live! That is the moment I smile. The moment I exhale.

I think Louis Armstrong sums up my feelings best on love, life, and all the beauty surrounding both.

“What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They’re really saying I love you.

I hear babies cry, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

It’s amazing how much beauty there is in the world. But what’s really amazing is I never seem to take notice of any of it until I’m falling in love. That is clarity. Discovering she has made my world wonderful and made me deliriously happy.

All You Need Blogger: David Stehle

He’s had some good romances, some bad romances, and most likely too many one-night stands. A few months ago David decided to tear up his heart and shut it down. He had a manwhore relapse. Today, he stays open…because you never know when lightening will strike! David is the Founder of a Network Security Consulting company by day and blogs at The Rest Is Still Unwritten by night, with the love of a Bulldog by his side. Follow him on Twitter @davidstehle

Song: Louis Armstong – What A Wonderful World