Connecting

Today I was not very 'connected' to the world outside of my house and church. I had a few appointments and some busywork to deal with and just didn't spend much time on the computer or phone. I observed a couple of things:

1) other than the virtual 'stack' of emails in my endbox at day's end, I didn't miss anything of an urgent nature.

2) I did miss the somewhat regular interaction I normally have with some friends through a youth ministry forum I participate in and through Twitter (never EVER thought I'd say that about Twitter!)

My closest peer relationships happen online. Some of these relationships began around 8 years ago when I lived in Colorado. Many of the PC(USA) relationships that I have outside of my congregation, have developed from online communities. These relationships enrich my life. (And these relationships are definitely not 'less than' in any way.) Because these relationships happen in an online context, I am actually able to stay more regularly connected than not. Many of these online interactions naturally evolved into telephone conversations and face-to-face meetings. Without the initial online connection  - I'd have never have had the opportunity to connect with some people I now count as close friends.

From a Living 2010 perspective, I'm thinking that being connected with a wide variety of people and with many streams of thought is becoming more of the norm. It will be interesting to see how technology allows us to both stay connected while simultaneously freeing us from staying hard-wired into any one mode of connecting. For me, multiple (nearly simultaneous) modes of connecting seem to work. Wondering how technology might enhance that potential connectivity.

Connecting.

Interesting.