Facebook has been a game changer. That is overstating the obvious, I realize.
It has brought back people into my life that in previous generations would have been lost to me forever. Now I get regular updates from friends who live around the world. Some I only knew for a few days in the first place, others I knew for an intense 6 months, many more I knew for a lot longer, but now know in different, more interesting ways. I have discovered I have more in common with some people than I ever realized when I was a kid.
While I enjoy having this tenuous connection with kids I started grade one with by way of knowing what they ate for breakfast, one or two real life friends have escaped my grasp. They have drifted from me. They don't use Facebook, they likely have more scrupulous adherence to privacy than I. I only have a tiny fragment of information to go on about their whereabouts. I have made a few half-hearted attempts to reach out, but in the field of open door policies and free wi-fi, the keys to their doors are hidden from me.
In a way, it is a relief that despite how far open the flood gates have been flung, there are still mysteries, still boxes unlabelled and sealed shut, with hearts out there still hoping to stumble upon them.
It has brought back people into my life that in previous generations would have been lost to me forever. Now I get regular updates from friends who live around the world. Some I only knew for a few days in the first place, others I knew for an intense 6 months, many more I knew for a lot longer, but now know in different, more interesting ways. I have discovered I have more in common with some people than I ever realized when I was a kid.
While I enjoy having this tenuous connection with kids I started grade one with by way of knowing what they ate for breakfast, one or two real life friends have escaped my grasp. They have drifted from me. They don't use Facebook, they likely have more scrupulous adherence to privacy than I. I only have a tiny fragment of information to go on about their whereabouts. I have made a few half-hearted attempts to reach out, but in the field of open door policies and free wi-fi, the keys to their doors are hidden from me.
In a way, it is a relief that despite how far open the flood gates have been flung, there are still mysteries, still boxes unlabelled and sealed shut, with hearts out there still hoping to stumble upon them.
oh yes, i think blank spaces on the maps give us a really child-like expectancy and thrill...
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