Random Thoughts on Connections & Relationships

This morning I had the house to myself.

My wife Kathy works every other Saturday and this year it includes Thanksgiving weekend, my birthday and Christmas day.

We work around that, just as we used to work around my schedule when I worked in a plastics factory for a couple years.

So after sleeping in a bit, I decided to treat myself to a Raspberry White Mocha and a piece of crustless quiche at the Firefly Coffee House.

I brought my laptop and am sitting in a comfy chair reading and writing emails, blog posts, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

I think my wife thinks I'm a little nuts or obsessive at times.

But for me, given the choice of Television or the Internet, if I could only have one, I'm a web person.

And today it's fun seeing some folks send me birthday greetings via email, Facebook and Twitter.

I am not a big fan of Facebook, but "Everyone" is on it. To be honest, I signed up so I could see what my kids were up to when they were away at school. At first they found that creepy, but now that we're all adults, it's okay. Besides, I pretty much ignore Facebook except when I get an email alert.

Looking back, it was a couple years ago when my high school class of 78 was having our 30th class reunion, that I started connecting with people from my past on Facebook.

Facebook has a feature where it will let you know when one of your friends has a birthday and recently I started paying attention to this feature and sending birthday wishes to Facebook friends.

And today, a lot of them have been doing the same.

This internet and social media thing... it's fun, it's helpful, it's not going away.

I have earned a few dollars due to the connections I have made, but at this point in my life, it is not a full time profession. It is part of what I do with my life.

It is a way of sharing and giving and connecting and building relationships that matter, along with the face to face connections.

Each year, I decided how I want to give back, and I find myself volunteering to serve on various boards and committees.

I urge you to do the same, to step away from living only on-line and get involved in person with causes and projects that need you.

I sincerely appreciate the friends I have been able to reconnect with from my past, the folks who I have met in person due to the social media connections, and also those whom I may never meet face to face due to distance.

There are people who read this blog or one of the others that I write that I also appreciate and please remember this is a two way street.

You can reach me by posting comments, finding me on Twitter @ScLoHo or my email: Scott@ScLoHo.net