About

Thank you very much for visiting The BridgeMaker. My name is Alex Blackwell. Mary Beth, my wife, and I live in Overland Park, Kansas. We share four great children and live an ordinary life in the heartland of the United States.

Ordinary not in the sense our lives are mundane or lack passion; but ordinary in the sense we, too, face our share of challenges and disappointments mixed in with the exciting victories and true happiness we also discover along the way.

I started blogging in April, 2007 with the launch of The Next 45 Years. This past July (2008) I made the decision to stop producing that blog in order to begin work on this one. While The Next 45 Years was successful, it really didn’t provide the focus, or direction, I wanted to go in the blogging world.

The BridgeMaker is my attempt to acknowledge the pain I have experienced in my life while at the same time providing compassion and inspiration to others. It is my hope each of you will be part of this journey through your involvement with this blog.

What is a Bridgemaker?

Bridgemakers span the gap between pain and healing. Bridgemakers are wounded healers who can identify with those who are suffering. Bridgemakers learn compassion through their own endurance of pain. We all have the capacity to be Bridgemakers when we make the choice to show compassion and grace to others.

The purpose of The BridgeMaker.com

In its purest form, The BridgeMaker is a self-awareness and personal growth blog. The content on this blog can be categorized into the following primary areas:

  • Ask for What You Want. Be sure to visit the Ask page daily to see the latest requests submitted by readers just like you. The purpose of making these requests is to remind us that to get what we want in life, sometimes we have to remember to ask for it.
  • Stories of Change. We cannot change or heal what we do not acknowledge. The stories published here are intended to give you motivation and confidence that change does indeed take courage, but without change we will remain stuck in the past. To move forward in life, we must first make the choice to begin learning how to change; we must take the first step outside of our comfort zones and into the fear that has held you and me back for too long.
  • Inspiration. Call it motivation or call it life-coaching, either way you can expect to read articles that are intended to help encourage you to overcome the obstacles you are facing.
  • Faith. Life is bigger than anyone of us. Sometimes when we surrender to a higher power and say “bring the rain,” we discover we are well-equipped to weather any storm we encounter.

Subscribe to our RSS feed or via email updates to receive fresh content delivered to you at no charge. I sincerely appreciate your readership and support. Also, please feel free to drop me a note anytime at alex@thebridgemaker.com.

Some facts about me

  • Born July 5, 1962 in Norfolk, Virginia
  • Married to Mary Beth Blackwell for over 23 years. We share four children: Brandon (22); Caitlin (19); Andrew (17); and Emily (9).
  • Earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in English Education from Old Dominion University.
  • I taught high school English for two years right after college. For the past 21 years, I have worked in the publishing industry.
  • Hobbies include writing, working-out, season ticket holder for the Kansas City Royals (like I said earlier, I have experienced some real pain in my life) and doing volunteer work for a spiritual formation organization.

If you enjoy my blog, please visit the Support page to find out how you can be part of The BridgeMaker.com community.

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