Something rather spectacular has been happening over the last few days in the blogosphere.

– The awesome Serins from Serins Sphere did this poster. I love how she does art.

A movement is forming to gather 1000 bloggers to flood the blogosphere with good on February 20.

There’s a board for the pinners; a Facebook fan page here and anyone who blogs who is interested in joining the movement can ask to join the Facebook group here. Three days in and it’s nearing 700 bloggers promising to post on February 20.

The artistic and organizing forces have also found a way to democratically settle on a hashtag (#1000Speak) and a button.

Yvonne Spence, one of the main coordinating forces, posted her call to action here.

But the story really starts five days ago when Lizzi, one of my favourite bloggers, who blogs at Considerings – posted about the Village.

You know the one.

The one it takes to raise a child; that caring community we hope is OUT THERE when we need it.

She lamented about the bad that happen in the world.

I recently did the same when I re-tuned into the news for a bit on January 2nd. It was horrible story after horrible story: A toddler dumped in a Winnipeg North End recycling bin; horrific deaths in Edmonton and Calgary over New Years; the teenage sex slave scandal.

You indeed wonder where The Village went in these moments and where to even start.

A younger me dreamt big dreams of changing the world and making it better.

From youthful eyes it’s less complicated.

Be kind. Feed those who are hungry. Help those who are sick. Teach people to read. Make sure everyone has a place; a role; and a feeling of self-worth.

Somewhere between there and adulthood it gets more complicated.

And completely overwhelming.

Life gets busy with jobs; and car loans; and marriage; and mortgages; and babies; and grocery shopping; and what if you never find the right child care?; and whether you should be thinking of promotion; and if you are investing enough for retirement; and wow groceries are, like, super expensive; and why that guy got promoted when you didn’t; and how you really need to get to the gym and make time for YOU; and, wow, I totally skipped economics in university and apparently that’s employment GOLD – maybe I should take university classes in my “free time” so I can be more competitive in the job market; and if the auto mechanic is ripping you off; and whether your child needs eye surgery; or maybe has a hearing issue; Am I drinking too much?; and OMG I forgot to pay the Hydro bill; and – seriously that guy got promoted?; and how Apple warranties are, like, totally useless; and who is this clipboard holding fellow at the front door trying to convince me I a need a new water heater – wait, why did I have to answer the door? Am I the ONLY one who lives here?; we need to invest our marriage – “couple time” is important after kids; and I should start a blog, you know, for “me” time; and what’s the deal with scarves and school – do they seriously think the 4-year-olds are going to strangle each other when the “I’m assured awesome teacher to student ratio” is on break?; seriously Hydro, I forgot to pay you ONCE, you don’t need to send four reminders and threaten to send it to a credit collection agency; I need to plan date night with my husband, is my marriage OK? I’d ask if we ever saw each other when we weren’t talking kids or household management, but so glad he’s working overtime ’cause we could use it; and why aren’t I getting overtime pay? – I totally knew that guy shouldn’t have been promoted; and why isn’t my kid pooing regularly?; OMG, there’s no way I’m making daycare pick-up by 5:00, let alone 5:30pm, please don’t let her ditch me I don’t know what I’d do without her; we should go for family dinner to train the kids to behave well in public – does that sort of count as a date? Or at least some sort of connecting time between walks, tantrums and bathroom breaks; I need a drink; and wow, I should get to the gym; and woah- how much am I suppose to be investing now in my kids’ college funds? They’re not even in grade school; Am I drinking too much?; “Stop sucking your fingers, they’ll get infected!”; and I should really register for the grocery points card because groceries are, like, really expensive; and what do you mean my old winter tires don’t fit on the new car?; I’m sorry, I owe HOW much in taxes?; seriously, how does this grocery points card work?; Crap! Your finger’s infected and the doctor’s office won’t pick up the phone until 9:00 am when there will be an influx of calls and it’ll just ring busy for forty minutes – I’ll just book the morning off; is that why that guy got promoted?; and shoot, my credit card was bought out by another bank and cancelled and now I have to switch all the automatic payments; and my five-year-old is apparently already behind at school (I didn’t know that was possible given you only have to legally start attending at age six) ….; and…; and….

I swear I care about the world beyond my life and want to be an agent for positive change.

I just need to make time for that with …. everything else.

And then something like #1000Speak comes along and it’s manageable; and actionable; and tells me I’m not just one person wishing things were different and asking what I can do.

I’m one of many.

I’m part of the Village.

And if we all do our own little pieces; our individual … drops … of good stuff?

We aren’t just doing little “who will ever notice?” bits of “why am I even bothering?” effort.

Combined our efforts can start the wave for positive change.

Since signing on to post – and joining the Facebook group of bloggers committed to doing so – I’ve been email bombarded with excited, positive GOOD from those who will participate.

Motivational posters:

– Jennifer from Dancing in the Rain posted the Dalai Lama quote; Priya from Random Musings gave us Amelia Earhart; and Ahana Mukherjee shared the quote on perspective.

Artistic representations of the message:

– Crystal Cook from the Qwiet Muse shared this graphic.

And then there is the Facebook thread asking where everyone was from and would be posting from.

While I’m usually annoyed by consistent updates, each one of these made my heart smile and gave me a much-needed reminder that there are many around the world who simply want to do good and be part of something positive.

All that to say?

Bring on the Village.