I like connecting with other people. It’s great when I find people with similar interests; when the connection can turn into a jam or a discussion that enlivens both the other and me.
Years ago, these connections always came because we got together for some social function, religious organization, community organizing or just liked the same pizza joint. Now, so many more of my connections are virtual. I am connecting with musicians, like-minded people, lawyers, and others these days, many of whom are connected primarily or solely through email, Twitter, FaceBook and so on. Some of these connections are “strictly business”, but many of them are deep and wide friendships that would be a considerable loss to me socially and personally if they ended.
There has been much debate about how this sort of “electronic” relationship would water down human social connections or change humanity for the worse. My own experience is that these non-physical interactions are beautiful and fulfilling in their own way. They are not the same as relationships where I meet face-to-face with the other. And they are in no way lesser as a result of this. I have grown, benefited, and been able to give of myself in my virtual relationships just as much as in many of the non-virtual ones.
In fact, there is a way in which the non-physical connections are more easily translated into spiritual connections. Without an embodied relationship, collaborations mold in a different manner. There is no distraction with body language — that often incorrect “reading” of the other’s behavior. My mind has no absolute image of the other. They are like a ghostly spirit with whom I am sharing whatever part of my humanity is involved in our connection. For example, if I am musically collaborating with someone electronically (and if I’ve never been in the same room with them), there is a way in which our pooling of artistic information is beautiful differently from the in-person collaborations that I also deeply appreciate.
And now, this web site has become yet another way that I am connecting non-physically with people. In fact, I already appreciate you who are reading this whether I’ve met you “in the flesh” or not.
Playful blessings,
Stan Stewart