Community, In Real Life
by Catherine Viel
Posted on November 17, 2023
The need for connection and community is primal, as fundamental as the need for air, water, and food. ~ Dean Ornish
I shudder to think how isolated I would feel now without electronic communication. True, there was always the telephone and letters sent by mail. But Internet communication has become more important to me than ever over the last several years, as in-town friendships have dwindled to near zero.
It’s almost a bit…robotic to entrust little electronic blips we can’t even see to convey our humanness to each other. One could argue that it’s merely an inevitable progression of hundreds of years of written communication, then the telegraph, the telephone, the Internet.
I suspect our ancestors would view it askance. They might liken it to relying on a distant view of a crackling firepit, or a glimpse of the sun while traveling through dark forest, for heat. The firelight and the sunlight were certainly there. But from a distance, no one could feel the warmth.
Because many of us were prevented from meeting in person, electronic meetings became the norm. Online classes probably ruined several years of life for school-age and college kids. The electronic meeting space was a stopgap, but it has made inroads into replacing in-person gatherings even when participants could meet in the flesh. Families text each other from another room in the house. Neighbors send texts instead of knocking on the door.
If we have been steered toward this non-contact way of interacting by the dark controllers, I trust that new ways of connecting in real life are just around the corner. I imagine instant transport to visit a friend across the country will be as welcome as med beds to fix ailments and peace of mind from knowing many formerly hidden truths.
