As we close in on 20,000 visitors to our website, I am reminded of our place in the world. Here, in Joplin, Missouri, we sometimes get lost in ourselves; that is, we forget that there are billions of other souls out there, wandering through life along with us. The counters in the right margin of our homepage give us a pretty good idea of population centers where advanced technology exists.
Above is a map of the locations of all of our North American visitors, while the map at left is an indicator of our international guests (If you are one of these guests, looking at this post, we would love for you to identify yourself in the comments.). We are thrilled and humbled by the unlimited boundaries of our reach.
One activity we may do soon is recreate the graphic below. The purpose is not to make us feel small (but it does kind of do that, doesn't it?); instead, the purpose is to help us realize that we are part of something big. Without the Me circle at the center of this diagram, there would indeed be a hole in the universe.
My Place in the Universe Chart by D. Ed. Hoggatt
