Isolation

Isn't it funny that in our attempts to network and keep it local via the internet, that in fact isolation is a by product.  We chat, we communicate, we blog, we comment but all of this is actually done to a shiny white screen with black type flying across the 'page'.

But we have such busy lives/sick kids/our own problems I hear you say.  Oh God, who needs such high maintanence 'friends' in our lives;  Too hard.  The internet has made instant communication the norm as 'Hugz' fly across the World.  I have found however that it is an extremely unfulfilling sort of friendship.  I can hear my kids saying

"Mum you are so old fashioned, no one phones nowdays"

Well let me say clearly here and now that I believe that it is a voice which lends meaning to a 'hug'.  It is the IRL times together which build community, friendships and support.  It is the friend who drops by with flowers*  and a huge hug which helps to get someone through a really tough time.

Let the internet be the stepping stone but don't forget that if you don't use other forms of communication then when the day comes when the 'net is offline, then you will be isolated and alone;  not the kind of future we are all trying to build.

*An example only, some people drop by with a meal or just the hug itself.  Some people come in and pick up a broom!