Welcome back to “The Gods Are Bored!” I’m Anne Johnson (still and always), and I’m typing with one finger. Guess it’s like doing things with one hand behind my back.
The title of this post comes from a Walt Whitman poem called “A Noiseless Patient Spider.” The poem is about the soul’s attempts to seek connection.
In the past few years, as I interacted with people on Facebook, I would often be quite surprised by their coldness and distance when I would see them in person. I would comment warmly and faithfully on all the photos they put up of pets and peeves. Then, in a true social situation, I would expect authentic connection, only to be met with bafflement on the other person’s part.
At the same time, my sphere of true connection shrank to bones. I have no close friends. When I am off work I socialize with my nuclear family and occasionally my sister and siblings-in-law.
It’s a narrow view of the world.
Last week, via Facebook, I discovered that one of my dearest former friends, the Monkey Man, had been hit by a car and was well nigh crushed. Tells you all you need to know that I wasn’t sure he would remember me when I showed up at his rehab center. But he did. We had a lot to talk about.
How could I have let this wonderful person go in favor of a computer screen?
Well, for one thing, my job exhausts me. And I have joined this larp group full of fun people who I wouldn’t call friends. Yet.
But no more excuses. I need to form real bridges. It’s my new goal for 2025.
Ha ha! Isn’t it rich that I’m announcing this resolution on a blog? Ironic. But it is a goal.
Maybe there’s a bored deity who will help me. They sure understand this kind of isolation.
3 comments:
Isn't that the conundrum of social media? It is not very social. Maybe it should be called Platform Media or Performance Media because that's what you get. I mean sure, you can keep up with someone's vacation photos or whatnot, but real connection is a different thing altogether. Good luck with your reconnection to human beings. I hope the Larpers work out. And, best wishes to the Monkey Man.
Sorry to hear about the Monkey Man's injuries -- glad he's alive and in rehab, but I'm sure he has a tough road ahead of him. I'm sure he was happy to see and visit with you, a genuinely concerned friend.
Isolation is increasingly the social issue of our time, isn't it? It takes time and effort to keep ongoing connections with existing friends, let alone make new ones. As we age, friends of the past can move to different cities (usually to be closer to their children), stop socializing themselves due to poor health or mobility issues, or can just up and die. My social circle is shrinking for all those same reasons.
Yes. Everyone is saying that the way to survive the current administration is to form community. Best of luck.
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