But for the last year and a half, I’ve been running Rising Up and its grown into something I am really proud to have my name on. It is my little blog that could and a source of excitement in my day. My blog has been a tool in my growth.

Last week, I still would have told you that blogging has not changed my life. Last week, I would have told you that I would be doing all of the things I am doing now even if I did not have my blog. Last week, I would have told you that the only person whose life has changed as a result of my blogging was my husband – mainly because I write about him and then he reads it on the internet while strangers comment about the way he lives.

I also would have told you that things that have changed my life include my adoption, meeting my husband, joining my sorority and my involvement at The Well.

I don’t have any dramatic stories about saving the world because of blogging. Instead I can tell you about meeting Kathrin Ivanovic through my blog and working on Change Blogger Philadelphia together. I’m not trying to save the universe – I’m just trying to have an ongoing conversation about change in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

I can’t share a romantic story about how a man once commented on my blog and lo and behold we fell in love. Instead I can tell you about meeting my husband at church through his sister and deciding to get married without ever dating. I never meant to find true love on the internet but I’ve been blessed to have a blog that gives my husband and me something to talk about at night.

I wish I could tell you that someone discovered my blog and decided to pay me six figures to sit around and be fabulous all day. Instead I can tell you about learning how to find the time to feel fabulous. I can tell you about the ongoing adventure this lesson can take and how the adventure evolves as I do.

While I would love to think that I’d be doing all of the same things if I was not blogging, the truth of it is I wouldn’t be. Had I not started blogging, I would have never connected with Brazen Careerist. Had I not connected with Brazen Careerist, I would have never connected with Adam Gilbert (and started working on my fitness goals), Connie (and started working on my career goals) or Kathrin (and started working on my change goals). I would still be married. I would still have the job I have now. I would still have my own home. I will still have community.

But I wouldn’t have blogging and the possibilities that it opens up. I would have different possibilities in my daily life that I don’t have now. Because with all of the doors that blogging can open, it closes other doors. That’s not a bad thing – it just means that those opportunities are not presented to you because of the time you have invested elsewhere.

In my world, blogging has been subtly life altering. Nothing so dramatic that it shook me to my core but consistently pushing me towards a life that is consistent with my values and my dreams.

How it is a bold move.

How it is the largest bailout since the Great Depression.

The kids I haven’t even made yet are going to be paying for their grandparents’ mistakes. And, to quote my grandfather, it “really burns me up”.

It kills me that the tax payers are going to be paying for this situation. I haven’t asked you to pay for my mistakes, why should I be paying for yours?

I really wonder about what kind of benefit this bailout would have.

While I ranted like a lunatic at Brian about the situation, I started spewing out random ideas that I thought would be better.

And one of them might actually be better.

If people are insistent that there be some sort of bailout, why not bail out student loans? After all, something around 50% of recent college graduates have student loans. Studentdebtalert.org goes so far as to say that 39% of college grads have “unmanageable” levels of student loan debt.

What would happen if that $700 billion dollars was used to bail out current students or graduates? How would that impact the economy? How would that influence our economic future?

At the moment, my student loan payments are larger than our mortgage. And our mortgage is cheaper than renting in our area. What would an extra thousand dollars in our pocket do for us every month?

And we aren’t the only ones in this situation. Every couple we know has student loan debt. And Brian and I are lucky ones because he doesn’t have any student loans to pay. We only have to carry my debt with us while most of our friends have payments to make for two people.

I should also make sure I say that I don’t believe that a student loan bailout would be a good idea either but playing with the “what if” is always a good idea.

If your student loans disappeared, how would it change your life?

Would you still be in your current line of work or would you pursue something different?

Would you stay in the part of the country where you live now or would you have more freedom to explore new places?

What would you do with that extra money?