From the editors

By Rob & Sara Bednark
The Portland Upside
November 2009

When someone wants to volunteer to write an article for The Portland Upside and asks us what subject we want them to write about, we invariably tell them, “Write about something that interests you or that you are passionate about.” When things become personal, words become alive.

It is exciting when the articles come in to see what our writers have come up with. This may seem unorthodox and the mix of articles is certainly unpredictable, but each issue has been a fascinating selection of stories and profiles of people, businesses and organizations.

Everyone has a passion, be it writing, going to garage sales, making coffee mugs or singing. By following those passions even when the path is not clear, great things can happen.

Crystal created her own “Music In The Community” college major so she could follow her urge to use music to bring people together (“Bringing music to the community”, p. 1).

By volunteering at Community Warehouse, Lin, Evy and April use their organizational and garage sale talents to help those who need to furnish their homes (“Secret to a happy life”, p. 6).

Stephen traveled to Kenya, Africa, on something of a whim and ended up helping a village connect with information that will continue to help them in years to come (“Portlander sparks hope in African village”, p. 1).

9-year-old Isaiah Walker’s curiosity about cultural backgrounds led to an International Day celebration at his church (“Cultural diversity celebrated”, p. 8)

And our passion to hear about positive stories around Portland led us to start The Portland Upside. We didn’t know how we would get here, but with the generous help of many volunteers, we have produced seven issues and over 65 articles to date.

Passion, indeed, brings words to life.
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All issues can be viewed on our website, www.PortlandUpside.com Contact us by email, editors@PortlandUpside.com, or by phone, 503-663-1526.