about the internet as my lifeline
Today, I realized how dependent I am on the internet, e-mail and web services for contact with the outside world. Having physical limitations means I'm less able to do things in person, such as going to events, meeting new people, launching and participating in various projects, learning about people, places and things. Instead, I derive great mental stimulation from the virtual world. And increasingly, my collegial relationships take place in the cyberworld instead of the real world. Even many friendships, such as that with Cynthia who lives in California, take place via telephone instead of in person.
We talked about that today, in the context of Cynthia not really trusting or liking the internet because it seems to provide too easy a substitute for real-life relationships. I startled myself by voicing a hitherto submerged truth - that if not for the internet, I wouldn't really have a whole lot to do. My life - limited as it is now - would be immeasurably boring and seemingly pointless.
Of course, my in-person, real-life, five-senses relationships with my nieces Ana and Julia are not boring nor pointless. Nor are my relationships with Alana, Rick, Sue, Phillipa, Ron, Laura, other folks I know and love here in Maplewood. I guess talking to my parents on the telephone last night brought home how many of my close relationships are now somewhat virtual - they in Nebraska, John & Susi in Colorado, Cynthia in California, Stephen in Florida, Anna in Chicago and Minnesota. The last two seem to have dropped off the face of the earth, not responding to my communications via e- and snail-mail and telephone. It's very frustrating to be virtual at times like these.
For the most part, though, the virtual world is good to and for me. I am educating myself about all manner of things, from coaching to setting up e-zines to marketing oneself and one's ideas on the internet to losing weight and getting fitter. I got an MBA entirely on-line over 18 months. I reconnect with people and begin new relationships entirely on-line and sometimes also on the telephone. I can express my ideas and develop new ones. I've become self-taught in the areas of sustainability and things green, education, oil production, terrorism, and travel in Scotland and England. I expand my vocabulary and keep my mind fit by doing Sudoku. I am current on a lot of news around the world, as well as up on celebrity culture. Julia and I play games on the computer and I can pretty much find anything I want or need on the internet. And my plan is to spread my ideas through the internet.
By necessity, I have learned how to navigate this medium and the etheric world it encompasses. And far from limiting my relationships, it has enabled many of them.
We talked about that today, in the context of Cynthia not really trusting or liking the internet because it seems to provide too easy a substitute for real-life relationships. I startled myself by voicing a hitherto submerged truth - that if not for the internet, I wouldn't really have a whole lot to do. My life - limited as it is now - would be immeasurably boring and seemingly pointless.
Of course, my in-person, real-life, five-senses relationships with my nieces Ana and Julia are not boring nor pointless. Nor are my relationships with Alana, Rick, Sue, Phillipa, Ron, Laura, other folks I know and love here in Maplewood. I guess talking to my parents on the telephone last night brought home how many of my close relationships are now somewhat virtual - they in Nebraska, John & Susi in Colorado, Cynthia in California, Stephen in Florida, Anna in Chicago and Minnesota. The last two seem to have dropped off the face of the earth, not responding to my communications via e- and snail-mail and telephone. It's very frustrating to be virtual at times like these.
For the most part, though, the virtual world is good to and for me. I am educating myself about all manner of things, from coaching to setting up e-zines to marketing oneself and one's ideas on the internet to losing weight and getting fitter. I got an MBA entirely on-line over 18 months. I reconnect with people and begin new relationships entirely on-line and sometimes also on the telephone. I can express my ideas and develop new ones. I've become self-taught in the areas of sustainability and things green, education, oil production, terrorism, and travel in Scotland and England. I expand my vocabulary and keep my mind fit by doing Sudoku. I am current on a lot of news around the world, as well as up on celebrity culture. Julia and I play games on the computer and I can pretty much find anything I want or need on the internet. And my plan is to spread my ideas through the internet.
By necessity, I have learned how to navigate this medium and the etheric world it encompasses. And far from limiting my relationships, it has enabled many of them.
posted by julieannerickson at 5:21 PM
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