By Sharma Krauskopf

There are times in all our lives when you feel destiny, whatever that is, is against you. We have sayings like "When it Rains it Pours" to commemorate these moments. Last week hebrides.com the home of Scottish Radiance moved to a new server. This was a significant and exciting undertaking. With so many complex things involved, the chances were a few small tidbits might go wrong. For one day Scottish Radiance was lost and then when found it was an old issue. After much hard work on the part of the Eolas staff the current files were recovered. We were back in business. I was frustrated but delighted we had it all straightened out.

As I cheerfully became to respond to the people, who had written me about loss of contact with the magazine, an E-mail slipped into my box which would alter my mood drastically. I felt like a stained glass window, which had been shattered by the electronic image piercing into the center of my design. I could feel the pain of the shards as they punctured my heart and spirit. One short and concise E-mail with the power to destroy happiness.

The "from" line identified one of the world’s most powerful newspapers. One of their reporters with my help had been developing a special on Scottish Radiance for their Sunday Supplement. The subject of the feature was not really the magazine but the people who are involved and their special spirit. The E-mail simply said the reporter had taken the story outline along with a laptop computer to the editors in order to introduce them to the site. When he brought the site up all they found were a few outdated pages with all broken links. Without any discussion the editors said no and moved onto other issues. The reporter thanked me for my time and that was that.

I have had a hard time accepting the editors’ decision. I plan when we have all the server problems resolved to go back to them. The story cannot be dead as the reporter so bluntly describe the endeavor. The story is alive. I want to reveal the theme of the story so at least you will know what we thought was so news worthy.

A few years ago secretly Prince Charles slipped off to a Hebridean Island to live and work on a farm. He spoke Gaelic and lived like an islander. When interviewed about why he had done it, he said he wanted to draw attention to the island way of life, the Celtic culture, show support for the Gaelic language movement and enjoy one of the most beautiful places on earth. Today in Cyberspace Scottish Radiance is presenting the same opportunity to the world that the Prince had. You can go to Scottish Radiance learn the language and study the island culture. You can see the island’s beauty and experience the music. The newspaper story was to present details of people living in many countries whose devotion and donated efforts bring this exposure to Celtic Culture, language and music alive. No, our writers are not Prince Charles. Numbers suggest they are informing more people about the Hebrides and the culture than Prince Charles trip ever did. The best part is Radiance is not a one time event. The magazine is available 24 hours a day seven days a week.

Why was the postponing of the story (I refuse to give up hope) so devastating for me? The Radiance family of writers is not paid. They all volunteer their time and effort. If I could have gotten one of the world’s top newspapers to interview them and tell their story it would have been a big reward for all of their efforts.

I hope this article will help you realize how important what the writers in this magazine are doing. If a reporter for one of the world’s biggest newspapers thought them important enough to write a Sunday feature then maybe you do too. Every one of them loves to get E-mail from their readers. If you could just take a few minutes right now and drop your favorite Radiance author a short note, it might help my disappointment in the delay of the more wide spread written recognition they so richly deserved.

You can find more articles in the archive under Island Miniatures.

I am a contributing editor for Suite101.com which is devoted to guiding you to the best of the internet and if you would like to take a tour please join me at All Things Scottish

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