Ding Dong

Hey Kev, this one's for you!

I have an app on my phone that sounds a "ding dong" chime whenever someone visits my blog. It tells me what city and state the visitor is from. I get visitors from all over the world, and I often wonder how someone in, say, Venezuela stumbled on my blog. I'm not sure what the answer is, but it's pretty cool, nonetheless.

Just about every day, I get a visitor from Santa Cruz, CA. I know who that one is. That's my brother. I have to cop to being terrible about keeping in touch with him, and he's just as bad. Neither of us likes to pick up the phone, and we live on opposite sides of the country, so we sometimes go months without exchanging a word.

But once a day, that chime reminds me that he's out there, checking in on me. This, in my humble opinion, is the best part of technology. It's the virtual equivalent of passing someone you know on the street, while you're both in your cars, and exchanging a wave. Just a simple gesture in the middle of a busy life that serves to bring that other person to the forefront of your mind.

Once a day, I wonder what my brother is up to. Once a day, I'm reminded that he's wondering what I'm up to. I love that. As a deeply introverted person, I can sometimes sink pretty far into my own world. The ding-dong reminds me that there are people outside my house that I like. People that I enjoy talking to and spending time with. I'm always surprised at how much my spirits pick up when I remember that. Even if I don't immediately pick up the phone, or rush out to visit with someone, I feel more connected in that moment.

As much as I love to stay home alone, that ding-dong reminds me that there is a big world outside my door that I love to explore, and that there are people I enjoy sharing that world with. If you're here reading this, I thank you for ringing my virtual door bell today. Know that I am mentally extending a "hi, how are ya" back at you.

For those of you who have shunned social media as a modern time-waster, I challenge you to see it as a virtual door bell instead. I have an aunt who posts little tidbits on Facebook just about every day. Just like that door bell chime, it reminds me that she's out there, going about her day just as I'm going about mine. So maybe post on social media once in a while, just to virtually reach out to those who you'd like to stay connected with. The cousin you only see once a year at the family reunion. The best friend from high school who lives abroad. The former mentor who's getting up there in years. If you're like me, it's far too easy to let those people drift away.

I'm making my New Year's resolution exactly two months late. This year I will post on social media from time to time, just to maintain connections. No political spats allowed. No venting. I will get back into social media, and I will use purely for the purpose of being social. Sharing of myself is not something that comes naturally to me, but as I get older, I can more clearly see the benefit of it. I need to extend tiny pieces of myself toward you, so that you'll feel like you know me, at least a little bit. That, in turn, causes you to share little bits of yourself with me, which of course, makes me more inclined to share myself with you, and next thing you know, we're in the snowball of connectedness. And voila, I feel like I'm part of other people's lives. Cool. I know you extroverts out there are going, "Duh", but seriously, for us introverts, this is kinda of novel concept.

So, I'm wading back into social media with some trepidation, but I'm hopeful.

Wish me luck.

Kimba

Ding Dong

3 Comments

Subscribe