More than half the posts I write -- including this one -- are born while commenting on someone else’s post.
The late great Douglas Adams (who shared my birthday, March 11th -- I'm sure that means something, but I have no idea what) created a character that I dearly love. Dirk Gently (also known by a number of other names, including Svlad Cjelli), was the owner/operator of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. It operated based on the "fundamental interconnectedness of all things." I believe in Douglas Adams and Dirk Gently. We all operate, knowingly or not, on the fundamental interconnectedness of all things.
We are intricately and intimately linked. I wonder if we take for granted how bound to others we are in this strange cyber world we have created. I have read and heard much talk about the isolation of each person, alone and lonely with their computer. It has been put out there as a metaphor for the estrangement of people from each other the symbolic isolation of individuals.
I don’t think it's true. For me, for many of my friends, for my husband, isolation would be life without the Internet. For anyone who suffers a chronic illness, for those of us getting on in years who can't get out as much as we want and whose friends have died or moved far away. For young people whose studies, work, happenstance or life choices have settled them long distances -- continents and oceans -- distant from old friends and family, the Internet is a godsend. Skype and programs like make it possible to see the faces we love. If we cannot share a hug, we can share face time. Electronic communications are fast or instant. Texting and IM, Twitter, Facebook, even YouTube -- let us share in ways that were science fiction just a few years ago.
Without my computers, I would be truly isolated. The fibromyalgia, arthritis and heart condition make getting around difficult. Without electronic connection, I would be a squirrel up a tree without a fellow squirrel to keep me company.
This post was inspired by Dawn Hoskings on whose post I was commenting when I realized -- again -- how lucky I am to be living in a world that lets me enjoy virtual travel and participate in a larger world. I'm glad -- proud -- to be part of a community of bloggers, a community of friends around the world. And deeply grateful. How about you? I'd like to hear your stories.
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