My Great Social Experiment

I don't have many quality friends on Facebook. Most of the people that I have on my friend's list are mostly mutual friends or (much more honestly) acquaintances. For a good while, this didn't bother me at all, since I was just randomly adding people relentlessly over the course of several months. However, now I have this lengthy list of strangers who are, apparently, deemed "friends" of mine. Only...they're not. Rather than to eliminate them from my friends list, I decided I would try to befriend them, to know a thing or two about who they are. While that's a daunting task to do, I'm feeling confident that not everybody will respond to the message I will send them (which I'll mention in a moment). Instead of having, say, 100 ongoing conversations, I might only have to deal with 70. 70 is still a high number, but at least it's not 100. As for the message, I plan on sending, I'm thinking something along the lines of this (keep in mind that this is only a draft question, and may be changed sometime in the future):

Hello. It's embarrassing for me to admit this to you, but the truth is, I don't know you at all, other than your name. I don't know who you are, where you come from, and where you belong in this mad, blue world (and if I do know who you are, and you got this...sorry that I forgot?). However, I do want to know you: what makes you happy, your favorite art and its myriad forms, your regrets, your dreams, the last time you cried, something you hope you'll never be, what keeps you awake at night. At the very least, describe yourself in one word. I'm not asking you to reveal your authentic, personal self all at once, but I am asking that you'll slowly (even if you're hesitant - and that's ok: I'd be hesitant myself!) reveal yourself to me. For the sake of equivalent exchange, I'll share something about myself also, giving you something in return for what you have given me. The hope is that someday, in the distant future, we can become friends (even if this is just upon this digital landscape), rather than remain a subconscious, subtle blip in our lives. I trust that you'll read this lengthy message and take the chance to meet somebody new, or at least, somebody who subtly lingered about your news feed and friends list for some time.

I hope that at least one person bravely responds back to me...

Quality Time With "Veronica"

Recently, I did something that I haven't done in such a long time on my university campus - I had quality time with a friend and we spent almost 2 hours just talking, making lame jokes, and just having some bit of fun. Considering we're down to the wire (our final week of the Spring Semester), I was somewhat surprised that we somehow made some time to just talk and develop our friendship together, and getting to know more about each other.

Spending time with "Veronica" (not her real name, but she did request that I use that pseudonym for her) was quite an exquisite respite from the inexorable pressures of these remaining few weeks. I haven't had this type of quality time with a fellow friend and classmate in months. It seems that I have spent just about all of my free time studying and conducting research for two demanding essays and reading the text for four classes in our campus library. Now that it's all behind me (for the most part), it was a nice change of pace to be outside, enjoying the gentle breeze, the flora, the fauna (just some squirrels, really), people watching, and the company of a friend. I hope to have more experiences in the future. I can't help but feel these little moments create those defining "college moments" that many of us fondly recall as we age over time.

"One Sky, One Destiny"

"Thinking of you, wherever you are...There are many worlds, but they share the same sky - one sky, one destiny."

As I've posted something earlier this year, I have signed up for an Instagram account. For the most part, I've been quite lax with my activity, having developed a modest following and such, but I suppose I could put more effort into it. However, that's not the point. The point is that I try to interact with others and I feel that there are several people that I've taken a liking to, mostly because we are able to practically have exchange conversations through the comment sections. As I have more conversations and learn more about the other people that I follow, it always takes me by surprise that some of the people that I interact with are from different parts of the world. Scotland, the Philippines, Canada...the countries go on! Of course, I shouldn't be so surprised that this is the case - this is the modern age of the Internet, after all. So why does it take me by surprise that it does?

Perhaps it has to do that there is a personal connection (albeit a small, distant connection), since users that I follow and converse with regularly become more than just a clever user name and a series of random photographs. They become nurses, gamers, photographers, dog lovers, celebrators of life, and so much more! I guess this can be compared to the random strangers in our daily lives. Maybe that's why I'm always taken aback when I learn more about the people I follow or who follow me. They become a person, with hopes, fears, hopes, and despairs, (although the Internet always shows the best of us, never the worst of us). I can add a face, a personality, and perhaps if I'm ever lucky enough, a voice to those so far away from where I'm from. 

 

But it isn't just technology that connects us, as the quote reveals. There are some many things we share together. The sun, the moon, the stars, the skies, the world, the human condition. Only we forget to that we do, since it seems that we're always drowning in a sea of our own problems to remember that our lives are much more than the forever now. I know I'm at fault at this from time to time. Which is why I'm writing this now - I had to be reminded of those connections. The hope is that I (or rather, we) don't forget this simple truth and the we continually reach out and impact the lives of those around us, both near and far away.