Spreading
the Joy Creating her web site, bethankful.com,
is a labor of love for Ft. Myers resident Victoria Monfort,
who is busy raising her son and co-owns GetNetSmart
Inc., an Internet services firm. But so passionate is
she about bethankful.com that she devotes several hours
a week toward it.
The site's name sums up her low-tech
message - living with gratitude. "The more people
who are happy and positive, the easier it is for all.
The site lets you focus on what's really important.
I came to this as a result of a lot of difficult times.,"
Monfort says.
"I used to be sarcastic and cynical
when I was young. Having to deal with my mother's cancer
battle, difficulties I face as a single mother, my own
hearing loss - I lost about 35 percent of my hearing
and it happened overnight - that affected me.
"I've learned to see the common
elements we have as people. If we look deeper, we're
all here, getting by as best we can. I want to deal
with people from a viewpoint of love, not fear. Once
you realize this, your world changes."
Monfort says her nondenominational
site is "about the larger truths; the idea is a
sharing opportunity." Included are daily meditations,
everyday epiphanies, quotes, features, and therapy art.
She's excited about submissions and wants subscribers
to get weekly reminders of something positive, perhaps
have their own page. "I may have sponsors, but
want to keep it as noncommercial as possible."
Site visitors will notice a wentletrap
seashell on each page. "My Dad would always tell
me wentletraps are special," Monfort says, adding
that she grew up in Virginia and vacationed on Sanibel.
Her family moved to Fort Myers Beach in 1976, she graduated
from Cypress Lake in 1979, and she moved back in 1995.
She mentions future projects - perhaps
a companion book and public speaking - and smiles widely
saying, "bethankful is why I'm on the planet."
