Tuesday, September 27, 2011

We find each other


The sky is in a piss poor mood. Still.

Remember when everyone was all crazy about how the internet was going to cause people to become isolated, stripped of the ability to interact with others? I remember - it was a big thing for awhile. Tongues and fingers were wagging everywhere about what disasters would arise if we continued to develop cyberspace. (Does anyone still call it that?) I guess that's when people were mostly conversing one-on-one through email, and only going on the internet to watch porn.

I read recently that social networking and video streaming are now the top two ways people use the internet. Porn has been kicked down to third place or maybe even fourth - a lot of folks shop on the internet. Yeah!! As one of the most Aquarian of Aquarians you'll ever meet, I am happy. The internet as a place to meet and greet, stay updated on one another's goings on, create friendships, share news both good and bad, makes perfect sense. We are pack animals, I tell you. We always find a way to connect. When in doubt, we cluster. We always have.

No I am not nostalgic for the "good old days," whatever that means. I am not a romantic in that sense at all. Life is the same as it ever was, overfull of experiences that are stressful (like being chased by predators, or wondering if the clan down the path is going to attack, or worrying about a business meeting with the boss). Life is also replete with experiences that are blissful always in any century or era (like the arrival of a baby into a happy family, a clear sunny day, the plush feeling of resiliency that comes after a very good night's sleep, feasting and toasting with near and dear ones).

I think we humans worry way too much sometimes, yes? I say yes.


All the years I lived on Tennessee Avenue I never paid much attention to the Mary McLeod Bethune statue. The sculptural style repels me, for one thing. But it's kind of growing on me, apparently, since I've featured pics of it almost every day lately.

15 comments:

The Bug said...

I sometimes wonder if I'd have any friends at all if it weren't for the internet. My naturally introverted ways don't lend themselves to getting out there & meeting people. Left alone without a computer I either read or work a jigsaw puzzle :)

Reya Mellicker said...

If the internet did not exist, you would find a way to connect. You definitely would, Dana. You are a wonderful friend.

Cyndy said...

It took me longer to get online than most of my friends. I think it was sometime around 1998 or 1999. The very first time I got on I joked "So what do I do now - visit porn sites?" So hilarious, I know. (eyes rolling).

Anyway, before I knew it I had friends all over the place. Me, the introvert. I'm much more of an extrovert online. I guess that's true for alot of people.

Reya Mellicker said...

It's true for me, definitely!

steven said...

i like that it's possible to add a layer, and a thoughtful one at that, by which i can learn to understand myself and other people. face-to-face has its own issues and there are just as many turns and box canyons in that experiencing of relationship as there are through the net. i'm more extroverted in person although i dearly love quiet and aloneness, but i'm less able to articulate the processes of my inner learnings than i am on the net. steven

Washington Cube said...

I loathe that sculpting style. I call it "cottage cheese art." The bust of JFK at the Kennedy Center is one of the biggest offenders.

Reya Mellicker said...

Cube I agree completely. I hate that thing. It's ugly and so huge. Does JFK a great disservice if you ask me.

Steven, you too are a writer, among all your other talents. You are a poet. You can sit around drinkin coffee and talkin the way you do on your blog. It would not be right. Thank goodness for your blog and for you.

Reya Mellicker said...

Just re-read the post. I think I could have added, after the sentence, "When in doubt, we cluster," - that sometimes when we cluster, it's a cluster fuck. Well, it is.

But we cluster nonetheless.

Linda Sue said...

cluster fuck- yes! I would love to cluster fuck everyone I love in blog land- Would be great to all meet in a casual place- the matchbox ? And have G&T's with one another and then go our merry ways back into blog land-A quick pressing of the flesh would be so good-
hugs
ls

Steve Reed said...

It is interesting how many of those fears about the effect of the internet on our social lives haven't really materialized. Just today I was thinking about two elementary school friends who have had a (minor) argument on Facebook, and I thought it was so funny that here I am, 35 years later and on the other side of the planet, STILL watching these two girls argue!!!

Reya Mellicker said...

steve - ha! Clearly some kind of karmic issue between the two of them.

Linda Sue I would love to meet you sometime. I love meeting my blog friends so much!

janis said...

Where would I be without my Blogland? I love my face to face friendships but I also love the internet & the opportunity to meet and understand others out there. Without the interenet I would not have the joy that many "friends" have brought me from across this big old world. Not to mention reconnecting...

mouse (aka kimy) said...

thanks for sharing this sculpture with me the other day.....

i wish you were with me monday while i was lost in the hirschorn sculpture garden - i love that place!!!!

ellen abbott said...

I'm with Dana. I have way more connections via the Internet.

ellen abbott said...

Oh, and I really don't care for that sculptural style either.