ever wonder what happened to that old high school chum? or a college sweetheart who broke your heart? well, it's one stop shopping at facebook. with a click of the mouse and a few keystrokes, you may be able to 'friend' that person online. of course, you should probably be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. my thought is- if the relationship was lost, there must be a reason for it and that reason hasn't gone away in the 20+ years intervening.human nature is funny though- we create memories in our minds of how these people are. we nurture these thoughts until they become the reality instead of the reality. and, for some reason, we long to collect these memories and people like coins in a book. we don't really want them to actively be part of our lives- we just want them near. or so i surmise. :)
the age of global instant gratification is here and for better or worse- it is easy to find folks who want to be found. we can 'friend' those chums and exes and maintain that bittersweet link to the past and we can 'poke' them and 'tweet' them and try to make them think that our lives are so important and exciting compared to theirs. facebook is like a giant class reunion without paying. yet..... i don't know if it's a good thing or not. i am attempting to reconcile the fact that when i looked at those 'friend' pages, very few things had changed about those folks- except appearance. the same quirks that irritated me 20 years ago- triggered me off this go 'round. and i found out that human nature's curiousity often stops at the 'friend' button. no emails to follow up or chatting to catch up on old times- just 'hey, i found you isn't that great?'
it leaves me with more questions than answers about the future of human communication but i am convinced that lost relationships are better off memories.
