@steve All good ...how's Mary?
@carl Awesome, thanks... Sally well?
@steve Couldn’t be better! How’s the gig?
@carl Good good ...let’s grab a beer some time!
@steve Sounds great, give me a shout.
Carl signs off and wonders why his life is such a mess while Steve seems so happy. Steve grumbles under his breath as he switches off his laptop that Carl has it so good while his life is falling apart.
Take A Peak Inside
As we open the doors wider into ourselves, do we need to put up a higher wall or a braver face? I have received countless emails from people who feel intimated by places like Facebook and Twitter. They don’t feel they have anything to share. We all have something to share.
The Power We Hold
MuteMath writes in the song Peculiar People “With a word we can drown a mountain”. Later in the song they write "we can fly with the wings of eagles". The operable word in both lyics is 'we'.
We are human. We are flawed. We experience life with its joy and bumps. We too often have to paste a smile on our face for the world to see. We often forget others must do the same.
Start With Hello
If you have a social media profile and you dig a little deeper to get to know a new contact, you will experience the magic of the medium. I remember the first time I sent an email to someone I had just met - and they responded! And we started a conversation.
My friends who don't 'get' social media, think that Twitter is a waste of time. But if you've ever experienced it when the conversation flows among several people and new people chime in with thoughts, you know that it's much more than a chat room.
During the Presidential debates, Obama's inauguration, the bailout, and the latest in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the conversation was vibrant and alive.
Let's Collaborate More
If we are spending more time online in social media enviornments, should we not be trying to share even more? But let's not confuse activity with progress. Increased chatter does not guarantee more solutions.
Stretch out those conversations - in public or private. This isn't about showing others how s-m-r-t we are or how well-read we are or how in-the-know we are. If we all lived 300 years, we still wouldn't know it all.
Be Yourself
To borrow words that best describe this, I turn to Seth and Mitch. Be remarkable. Be authentic. Take chances and step out. Enjoy your voice.
We are all stumbling around together. If we aren’t willing to make mistakes, be ourselves and be remarked about, then we may as well turn off the computer.
And the next time someone asks us how we're doing – maybe it's best to simply say “fine thanks, you?”
km
