I, like many other people online, am a loner. I am loner mostly because of my shyness, and the Internet provides me with an outlet in which I can express myself and communicate with others. Communication is essential if not solely for survival, for our personal well being. Take the movie "Cast Away" for example. In this movie, Tom Hanks' character, who is stranded on an island, is so desperate for communication that he starts talking with a volleyball that was in one of his Fed Ex packages.
Lately though, like Tom Hanks' character, I have felt the need to communicate beyond the computer screen. I started by going to get a cup of coffee with a friend, or just hanging out with someone and watching t.v. It felt good to just get out and communicate with people.
When I first started going out, I had an expectation that I would have someone to hang out with every day or at least someone to talk with besides on the net. When I looked at my life in contrast to what I thought I saw in the lives of other people who were social, I thought these people were always socializing so I expected the same. I quickly realized my expectations were way off.
What I realized is that most people, at least from my personal experience, even though they may have friends, spend the majority of their time (when not working or in school) reading, watching tv, or going on the computer.
It got me to thinking - how many other people are sitting at home right now that wish they had someone to hang out with in my town, state, country, the world? Are all of us loners lacking communication with the outside world because we spend so much of our time not communicating, while not realizing that there are other loners out there that would love a friend?
I realized that the Internet has become my "Wilson". (For those of you who don't know, Tom Hanks actually named his volleyball "Wilson" in the movie "Cast Away.") I don't mean to say that people online are not real, what I mean is that I can communicate with people online and they can communicate back, but there is no face-to-face conversation.
Believe me, I am very grateful that the Internet exists. It provides loners and shy people a way of communicating that they would not otherwise have. I just wish all those loners out there would be more communicative in the outside world, so that they could make some friends in "real life."
P.S. This may not be that well thought out right now and I may edit it later after reading it over a few times.
|
|
Bookmarks