A Life Online
Over the years I have been on-line – and it's more years than I care to remember – unlikely friendships have sprung up like weeds in the desert. Sometimes the internet can seem barren, empty, and soulless, but once you have a friend somewhere out there it's complexion changes. You have a window to a life very different than your own – a life less ordinary.
Once you begin talking to somebody new, sharing their experiences, visiting a small corner of their world, you come to realise that no matter where we are, who we are or what we do, we are just people – and people of a similar mindset seem to get along pretty well.
Perhaps it takes a certain kind of person to write a blog, or to take part in the various social networks that now exist. Maybe a kind of frontier mentality is required; a blend of wanderlust, escapist, daydreamer, and idiot seem like the best ingredients.
How do you spot these people in the real world? It's the girl on the park bench, watching the world go by. It's the guy sat in the traffic, gazing across the park from his car. It's the girl in the office, wishing she worked elsewhere. It's the guy walking to the train station early in the morning, with a podcast in his ears. It's the girl on the train writing her journal, and then reading a Cathy Reichs book. These people are everywhere and nowhere; all of the time, and never at all.
To all who know me – or at least can claim to knowing a little of me – thank-you for continuing to read, to know, to listen, and to put up with my inane rambling. I sometimes have a lot to say, and very little of it is invariably worth sharing, but I do – and so do a few of you.
We might not change the world, but we are at least making it a little smaller from time to time.
You're probably wondering about the photo sitting atop this post. I guess in many ways the “free hugs” thing feels a lot like putting ourselves out here on the internet. We build this house of cards filled with our ideas, thoughts, memories, opinions, hopes, and dreams, and invite others to stop for a few moments. It's nerve wracking, sitting out in the street with your life scattered around you, but there's always a chance the best friend you're ever going to have is about to walk around the corner.