Disconnected?

In a world where just about everything and everyone is a click away from being "connected,"  is it possible to feel disconnected? I think it might be very possible.

Years ago in my secretarial position at a high school, I would be chastised because I would be "away from my desk" too much.  I worked in a high school office, and when a student needed help I would get up and help them rather than point to wherever it was they could go find their answer (my desk had little to no traffic, so I wasn't leaving anyone in the lurch).  I would get caught at the front desk at the other end of the room helping someone while the secretary was away or busy with someone else, and it was at this job I learned and knew I could not be in a profession where I couldn't talk and interact with people.  In fact, over those first years away from home, I discovered that I needed to be social.  It filled a part of me that found joy in being connected.  Before I had children, friendship and service were hobbies, and there was a lot of energy generated when I was engaged in my hobby.

Things haven't changed in the past twenty-five years.  A lot of the energy that used to go to friends goes to my children, but I'm still the same inside.  My girls have been at school during the day for a while now, and recently they seem to need me less and less.  As I find myself with more time on my hands for friends, I am realizing that a lot of that time is spent with social media.  Social media is wonderful, but as with many good things, moderation is important.  I tend to spend time on facebook where I can interact with friends and family who live down the street, around the corner, or a few hundred miles away.  The term interact, however, has a bit of a false meaning for someone who craves interacting with actual humans.  If you know me well, I text and post and email and keep an active blog; I'm really good at using social media.  I recently noticed the term, "top commenter," by my name on facebook.  When I'm using social media, I use it in an active way, but it can be a very "one-way" type of communication.  I'm feeling lonely, and I think the time has come to look back at that time before social media was a part of our culture to see what was working well for me.

How is social media working for you?  Have you noticed the "down side" yet?  Perhaps it's a personal thing.  It's going to take some effort to engage in the old ways--picking up the telephone for example will be something I haven't done in a while.  I'll let you know how it's going.  In fact, you may be getting a call from me or even...a note in the mail.  Who knows what I'll come up with.