And now nothing...

I was just thinking....oh here I go again...'thinking!' No really, I WAS thinking this morning! I was thinking how distant we have become in our communication skills, well I guess I mean, the depth of our communication skills. Having made my usual computer run this morning, only to find no personal emails, 6 email advertisements and the Daily Dilly, I clicked over to Facebook and generally found only a few spotty comments from my "Friends" there. Gee's, I'm starving for interaction, communication, heartfelt sharing! That's when the 'thinking' began!

I'm going to give away my age here, but that's ok, age is a abstract concept anyhow!
Back in the mid 60's, as a young bride with very little excess spending money, and very little time between diaper changes, nap schedules and energy, I found my daily over the fence conversations with a neighbor or neighbors, to be such a fulfilling part of my day. Human contact! Yes, that's it...human contact! We shared stories, saw facial expressions, enjoyed seeing laughter or empathizing with problems by exchanging heartfelt hugs and words of encouragement. Somehow those things just don't come across via computer messages. Those were good memories; those were in days when things were much slower and more defined than they are today, those were moments that weren't penciled in between the hurry up schedules of today, those were days before I went to work!

Thus began the days of phone calls. They were better than nothing. We could at least catch up on the major events of our lives, share a concern, gripe about our husbands or tell a tale on the kids, and we still feel connected, with the promise of getting together 'real soon!' Phone calls were good. There was that much needed voice connection, you know, the 'it's so good to hear your voice' thing. It still felt warm and personal.

I don't remember exactly when we first bought our computer, or when I became brave enough to enter the world of emailing, but I do remember how excited I was at the instant gratification of typing off a quick message to a friend or family member and feeling that sense of accomplishment that I was somehow fulfilling the obligation of keeping in touch with very little time required! Ah yes, the world was starting to spin and time was becoming precious to me between working, family, keeping a home, church obligations, and trying to mix in some extra outside activities. This emailing thing seemed like just the ticket to expedite keeping in touch! And it was, but now I can look back and see it was the beginning of the end to that personal touch. I'm not saying it's a bad thing....I'm just saying.....

Well low and behold, about a year ago I was introduced to the phenomenon of Facebook! I was sold, lock stock and barrel! How cool was this! I not only could reintroduce myself to long lost friends and relatives, but I could post a short report about my daily doings on my Wall each day! Who wouldn't want to know the very interesting, yet perhaps mundane things I do each day? Good grief! This was heaven! I could keep up with them, they could keep up with me, we could post pictures, exchange chats and comments....who could ask for more? I no longer had to stop and take the time to write a time consuming email! Now here begins the part where I 'start thinking!' Because this morning when I went from my email (none) to my Facebook account and discovered there were no comments, no Wall postings, no one on the Chat feature....well, that's when I thought, "Good heaven's, now it's become too hard to even post a short comment on Facebook, ..where do we go from here?"

Life goes on, we do the best we can, and although I personally enjoy the intimacy of face to face communication so I can look into eyes that smile or a face covered with sadness allowing me to reach out with a warm hug or a small understanding nod of my head, I must admit, that isn't always possible. So I will continue to write that email, post that nondescript Wall post and pick up that phone on occasion...it isn't perfection, but it's a heck of a lot better than nothing!