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New Friends

friends by ~nn88 Thanks to Facebook, and to a lesser extent Myspace (which I openly hate but keep since others still use it) I’ve recently reconnected with a lot of old friends. Not old friends from a few years ago, but people from almost different lifetimes. While I’m talking a little more with some friends from college, almost 11 years ago now, I’m talking to more from high school. And a few days ago I even reconnected with a friend from middle school. All this leads to an interesting reality.

I’m starting “new” friendships with people who know more about my past than almost anyone I’ve met in the past few years.

Tons of different emotions come up when we talk. At times I think about how great all of our lives have turned out, and how people have gone beyond my wildest dreams.

My college friend Kat is a PhD in England researching cures to incurable disease. then my friend Coretta traveled all over the world to end up in Maine to teach blind and deaf kids. My friends are making huge impacts on the world, even those who have created a great family that is growing into some amazing kids.

In the past the only time you’d really talk to someone who knew about you when you grew up were family or your best friend since preschool. All of a sudden I’m meeting with people who saw me at my worst, and at my best. These are people who I have given everything to and treated as badly as I’ve treated anyone. It brings up some great smiles and some unexpected tears.

More than anything though all these connections remind me of how I was touched by each of these lives, and how I was able to touch each life. It also reminds me just how many people I could still reach out to for help, with very little lead time.

There are a ton of ways where technology over-stimulates us, and pushes far more information than we could ever handle. Technology is also the great connector. Just as a billions of computers are all connected together, so are billions of people.

Our world is smaller than ever, and our group of friends continues to grow larger because of it.

There’s something amazing to be said for meeting up with old friends and finding that a part of your heart is still committed to them. what a great opportunity that the people who shaped our lives can easily come back and shape them again.

What are we doing to really sustain those relationships?

Peace,
Tom

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Comments

Anonymous said…
Speaking of reconnecting, we should catch too. Soon. Have a blessed Easter!
April 10, 2009 at 10:15:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said…
That's catch up! Sorry. Peace, SS
April 10, 2009 at 10:16:00 AM EDT
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