Ages ago, a Facebook friend encouraged me to write a blog post about online friendships. I tucked that thought away with intentions of revisiting it when the timing was right. Since then, I have read many blog posts of fellow blog authors discussing this same concept. My own interpretation of this phenomenon is uniquely mine and may stray further from the basic premise than you might expect at first glance.
I look deeply into everything...people, occurrences, music, art, unusual happenings, those breathtaking moments that, should we not take care and choose to look more deeply, we might miss, they're so fleeting. I have been pondering this online gathering of people, looking at it from every angle, nudging with the occasional inquisitive touch, smiling in recognition often and seeing a stunning, crystalline mirrored reflection of strong purpose in the eddying waves that ripple outward from my fingertips.
Each of us is a pebble of sorts in the vast depths of the pools of Facebook and Twitter and whatever new social media forums may be birthed in the future. The strata of social media, once thought to be a flash in the pan fad that would quickly reach its zenith and die a quiet death, has become so richly and deeply layered that I do believe it is time for us to admit it is here to stay. We as a country and indeed, as a world, have embraced Facebook and Twitter to such farflung lengths that most of us are able to claim friendships with wonderful people on practically every continent. I am certainly in this group.
It delights me, this ability that I have to connect with people the world over. And it is this very happenstance that causes me to stop and, as I am wont to do, ponder deeply. I am of the opinion that with this astonishing bandwidth of internet presence, combined with a wide range of social media forums, the world is perhaps as small as it has ever humanly been possible in history to achieve. In mere seconds, we can communicate with someone on the opposite side of the world. The words flash so quickly on our screen that it negates the need to even pick up a phone to communicate.
As I ponder, my mind thinks that perhaps those who dreamed up the concepts of Facebook and Twitter were led by a Higher Power to create a communication device that would, in effect, connect us to those we might never have the chance to meet otherwise. Even here in the U.S., where travel is quite a simple thing to achieve, there are friendships I have developed - valued ones that I cherish - with people that I simply would never have had a chance to stumble across if I had been searching for them somewhere out there in the world on a face to face basis. Yet, in a very purposeful manner, I have been guided with gentle purpose to meet these different people.
Those of like mind, who "speak my language" with such sureness and clarity that it warms me to the very center of my being have cropped up in seemingly random connections or conversation threads....and the blinding, heart-stoppingly beautiful moment of friendship occurs. A remembrance of sorts...that, "Oh, there you are! I've been waiting for you!" kind of recognition that sparkles and shines so brightly that I imagine delicate, yet enduring ethereal threads stretch across the planet to reconnect us. Some of you will read this and nod, immediately grasping my message. Others will find this content to be another whimsical dance out there on the edge of what you find yourself capable or willing to embrace. It matters not how you perceive my words here.
What matters most to me is that I am alive to experience this, and these relationships. The richness of some of the connections, defying all odds to explain many of them, are so powerful that at times I am simply in awe of the gift. Yet, part of me realizes that these happenings are of dynamic design. I have an inner knowing that I will, at some point in the not too distant future, see some of these people, these remembered loves, face to face. I feel a very strong sense of destiny entertwined in these friendships.
A Twitter conversation recently with a remembered friend of my very heart spoke of this very thing....the threads of friendship as they weave across the Cosmos. This dear friend mentioned feeling that Spirit presents a kind of grid for us to interconnect, and I agree with this mindset. There is a curious kind of precision, an almost mathematical dance that is taking place in my life with many of these friendships. I have created several Facebook groups and fan pages where individual groups of people are connecting, and here again, I am forced to stop and ponder the why of this. I have always recognized myself as a facillitator of many things spiritually and energetically related, and it appears that this tendency is making itself known in the cyberworld as well as in everyday Life. Mystical teachings call these patterns Sacred Geometry, shamanistic designs that open the mind and Spirit up to higher levels of energy and learning.
I see all of this trickling down to what many would call a very mundane manifestation in social media forums such as Facebook and Twitter. The beauty and sheer mystery of the connections do not lose a single ounce of unique energy simply because they come together in the flashpoint of social media communication. Indeed, I think that highlights the beauty of it all....and it transports my Soul to recognize it for what I believe it to be....another pathway to connect with those my heart and Spirit recognize far before I am physically able to set eyes on these people.
In my mind's eye, at times I see it all taking place as an elegant, very controlled waltz, with each set carefully placed on a ballroom dance floor of neverending proportions. At other times, I hear a wild Irish jig that wails and spins in a frenzy of fiddles and drums, firing each Soul to flash and fly hither and yon, sparking bright connections with such a rapid pace that the human eye and mind simply cannot comprehend. And then it all coalesces into a physical manifestation of keyboard strokes, mouse clicks, smart phone and laptop screens. I see fine points of light marking each individual Soul, streaking outward leaving a trail of light that interconnects in intricate Mandala-esque patterns. I cannot imagine that this dance is without musical accompaniment. Would that our human ears could actually hear that mystical manifestation that we produce as we whirl throughout this cosmic dance.
We seek, through the medium of art, to create physical interpretations of mathematical and geometric patterns. Mandalas, such as those found in the Buddhist faith, show beautiful, entertwining circles and lyrically flowing curves and loops, depicting what has become an often quoted "circle of life" work of art. I have often thought that these artists' renderings might be our Higher Mind tapping into that Universal Consciousness and creating on canvas and paper, in metal, marble and wood, physical manifestations of experiences remembered by our Souls.
Whatever the inspiration, whatever the Divine purpose behind all of this worldwide connecting of people via social media, I am convinced there is a stronger, deeper purpose at hand than mere entertainment. From a One World perspective, social media is allowing us as a collective people, to cross boundaries and socio-economic barriers via the internet and find ways to communicate and understand one another in a manner that has never been possible in history before. That, in and of itself, is mind boggling when you think about it. The great minds of our modern age spoke eloquently about embracing one another on a loving plane that eschews those barriers and labels. Perhaps social media is yet another stripping away of needless layers allowing us to simply be ourselves and communicate for the simple joy of connecting.
As I warned in the first paragraph of this blog article, I have strayed quite far afield from my Facebook friend's suggestion to blog about "Facebook friends who haven't ever met face to face". I could have simply written a light-hearted post about that fun aspect of social media. I chose, instead, to plumb the depths of esoteric concepts....well, perhaps not the really deep depths, but my own ruminations of how they apply to social media. If you're still with me as I bring these thoughts to a close, you most likely are one of two things - you are a true friend who loves me despite not always "getting" what the heck I'm rambling on about (and if so, I love you in return, more than you can imagine), or you are a friend remembered who "gets" the concepts I am spinning across the page here.
Either way, you have engaged in this journey with me and we have produced another cosmic symphony of sorts, as our combined energies stepped across a crowded ballroom floor. As any proper southern lady would do, I curtsy and spread my skirts in thanks for a lovely moment spent together and cast you a genuine smile as the band strikes up another tune....and the dance continues.
__________________________
If you enjoyed this post and would like to read more, you can find me at Healing Morning blog.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Twitter is the virtual water cooler for writers. Facebook can be intimate (private account) or public (fan/group page) and both offer a multitude of benefiets and chances to meet new people and learn new things.
Great post!
Lindsey, thank you for the kind comment! Social media really is a fascinating tool that bonds us all across the world and across socio-economic lines and barriers. I find it endlessly interesting as well as such a wonderful, fun thing to experience daily. I meet people from all over the world and through those connections, I think we all grow. Very cool! I'm glad you enjoyed my ruminations on the subject.
Namaste',
Dawn
Post a Comment