I had two times this week that my mind was blown.

Even though I am 50 years old and not a “digital native”, I am still pretty competent in the use of technological tools.  I am a “digital immigrant”, meaning that I remember a time before mainstream digital devices when communication was primarily face-to-face, via telephone, or handwritten letters. So even though I can use technology, I find that interacting with younger “digital natives” helps me to understand new social and emotional paradigms for using those technologies.

From some internet discussion forums I belong to, I know that real friendship can grow from online communities where people never have met in person.  I have met some of my most trusted friends online. And it isn’t just that we established a friendship online, that happens all the time, it is that we maintain friendships in a online space. That is a powerful shift in human interactions.  But until the other night, what I had never considered is that intimate relationships in the digital age can also be sustained online.

The other night I went to a goodbye party for my friend Kare who lives in Germany now.  He came to the states to snowboard and on his last night here we met for beer. I had a great conversation with Rachel, a woman Kare had worked with when he worked in the US and she gave me a perspective shift on intimate relationships that I had never considered.  Rachel is in her mid 30s so just on the cusp of the “digital divide”. Rachel is the definition of a strong, confident, independent woman who has a stable job, disposable income, and is emotionally secure in who she is.  We recognized pretty quickly that we are kindred spirits. Commiserating over beer at a local German bar in Seattle, we both described the same challenges for dating in Seattle. The Seattle dating scene (Dateless in Seattle) is pretty well documented and some even blame the tech factor for it.  Rachel had a different idea about technology

We were complaining that we meet men, either in person or through online dating, that say they want a “strong, confident, independent woman”… until they actually meet one.  That is when they realize that they really want a ball of fluff that is waiting for them to come home so she can fix them a sandwich and get them a beer.  Yeah, that isn’t gonna happen in my world or apparently Rachel’s either.  Rachel said to me, “Robin, you are not going to find a real man in Seattle, you have to go east coast”.  To which I replied that I have a job and can’t move to the east coast right now. She said, you don’t have to move, just use technology.  Then she told me her boyfriend lives in Pennsylvania and they have no intention of changing that situation any time soon.  They talk online daily and fly to see each other regularly. Her philosophy is that, in the 21st century, relationships can be defined differently than how we traditionally have thought of them. I sat there blinking at her with the owl stare because she had just rocked my world.  Wait a second, I thought…Intimate relationships can also be fostered online?  Mind = blown.  That totally opens the dating pool up to a wider spectrum. An interesting shift in perspective that I need to think about more. Thanks Rachel!

Later in the week, my roommate and I threw our first small house party with a few ski friends. I have to say, it was great just interacting with them again. Between laughing over Cards Against Humanity to watching the Boy Dance Party SNL skit, I Iaughed hard enough that my sides hurt and I realized how much I have missed them and love their company.  At the end of the night, my roommate and I were cleaning up and I noticed that she had used an antique plate that belonged to her grandmother to serve food. When I questioned her about it, she said “what is the point of having it if it doesn’t get used?”.  Again mind = blown.  I was reminded of why I gave up all my stuff. The thing I realized this week is that the possessions aren’t the problem, it is the fact that for many people, they don’t use what they have.  They keep the good candle, china, lingerie, clothes, or whatever it is they have in storage for a “special occasion”.  Well, today is special.  You woke up, you are reading this blog, you are alive.  Celebrate.  Break out the good _______ (fill in the blank with whatever you have hoarded away). Use it.  Light candles, buy flowers, eat the good chocolate, and invite people over that you haven’t seen in awhile. Why?  Well because it is Monday that is why.  You don’t need a reason to live and love your life or to cultivate friendships.  Cultivate those friendships like you cultivate a garden, friendship is food for your soul.

So this week I learned from something old and something new.  Maybe next week, I will learn from something borrowed and something blue.  I never know where life’s lessons are coming from, I just try to be open to whatever I am learning.  Have a great week.