Never Before....

"Never before has there been a time when people were so connected through the Internet and other media, yet so very alone and isolated, looking for something more." That is a fairly close quote from the movie Contact. I did it by memory, so please forgive any mistakes, but this memory is close enough to serve the purpose.

I have been thinking about this quote for a few days now. And it is so very true. Never before have we been able to keep up with everyone in an instant, yet still never leave the lonely confines of our homes. Never before have we know people across the globe so intimately yet not even know the names of your neighbors. I have been in my new home going on 3 months, and even though I have reached out to say hello, the neighbors usually simply reply Hey, as they quickly scurry back into their homes. One neighbor out of 6 has spoken to us. I remember growing up. When a new family moved in we baked cookies, brownies, blondies, dinner anything to give ourselves a reason to meet the new neighbors. We looked for ways to welcome them, and often times grabbed a box and helped them move in. Is that done today? I hope it is, but in the past 3 years and 2 moves, we have not seen it. I can understand why people wouldn't want to invest a lot of time into us here. We are renters and we may up and leave in a year, leaving them behind and sad. I can understand that. But the more I look around I don't see any human connection. I see computer, cell phones, hand gadgets, people texting away, as they quickly pass the elderly needing a hand, or the mother overwhelmed with 3 children going in 3 different directions.

I was going through my facebook account recently and I was deleting people that I didn't really know, had as friends just for the networking needs of a project, or who I hadn't either responded to or received a response in a year. To me it just makes sense to only have people you are connected with in your network. I have many friends with 200, 500, one with 800 friends. I wonder, do they actually even know 1/3 of those people? Do they really carry on any real relationship, even if just as an acquaintance, with all of these people? I wonder, when they sign in do they feel more loved because 500 confirmed them as friends? Do they feel better about themselves, since 500 people have validated their importance? Or do they feel even more alone when they notice that not one friend even so much as clicked the "like" button on their status? Are they reminded that of 500 people, no one thought of them that day? I don't know, I am just wondering. Me, I have 135 friends, and I could probably even weed that down further. I have some friends, that no matter what they type, it could just be "eating lunch" and they will have 20 comments left, and other friends who type "I really need prayer today, we have been faced with a loss" and no one left a comment. I don't know who to feel sorry for. The one who needs constant validation, or the one who doesn't receive any.

I know that I am among the group that I am writing about. I have dear friends in England whom I have never met in person, and I don't know a single neighbors name. (I forgot the names of the ones who introduced themselves, yeah, I am really that bad) I don't write this to convict or condemned I write this because it is true and because I am part of the problem.

Never before have we known so many people, yet been so alone personally. I know I battle daily with loneliness, sometimes severe, leaving me aching. Break the trend, get out and connect in person.

Ady