The Internet

I have a love/hate relationship with the internet.

I love seeing photos from family and friends who are far away, and I love being able to share my daily life with them even when we can’t be in the same state.

I hate that the internet has such power: it sucks you in and doesn’t spit you out until you’ve burnt supper and lost all motivation to do any of the things.

My intermittent lack of self-control when it comes to Pinterest aside, I’ve never loved the internet more than the last few weeks.

In the last few weeks, I have found some wonderful, engaging relationships that make me thankful that I entered this writing/blogging/internet arena, and it really struck me how rewarding the experience has been this last Friday.

How A Dinner Out Made Me Realize I Loved The Internet

Scott (my husband, for those of you who don’t know him by name yet) and I went out for supper last Friday. We took the evening off, got dressed up (well, I got dressed up. Scott wore clean jeans), and spent three whole hours by ourselves and not working around the house. It was the most relaxing evening I have had in a long while, and we just got back from a week-long vacation.

At one point in the evening I looked at him and said the following: “I felt that this was a really good week. What did we do differently?” We had cooked real meals every night of the week, I had written and published three blog posts, had a coffee meeting with a potential new freelance client, and kept the house picked up and the dishes done. It was truly nothing short of a miracle.

We chatted about it, and attributed our success to the following:

• We have become “old married people” – we were in bed by 9:00 PM or a little after every single evening that week, and we were up promptly at 5:30 AM.
• We limited our TV time and really hunkered down in the evening to spend time talking and to getting stuff done so that we didn’t have to do it all on Saturday.
• We weren’t overcommitted. We helped with Youth on Wednesday evening as usually, but had made no other weeknight commitments and had no other appointments.

While I think those three things were really important in helping us stay grounded and sane for the week, I think – for me, at least – it was also the connections that I have been making online that really made my week feel like it had just clicked. I felt like I was a part of something and not just another voice shouting into darkness.

How Complete Strangers Made Me Realize I Loved the Internet 

I find it strange that some of the people I feel most connected with are people that I met – or have created a friendship with – online. When I say connected, I’m not talking about creepy fan-girling or anything. I’m talking about a sense of community: where complete strangers have rallied around a certain cry or topic or niche and supported each other without reservation. I have never seen or appreciated this more than in 2014.

For instance:

• I felt overwhelmed. I stumbled upon this post from Alicia at Jaybird. I connected with her on Twitter. We now seem to have an ongoing conversation about rest. She gave me the quote that now hangs above the monitor on my desk at work:

• I met a new friend in Jon Acuff’s 30 Days of Hustle group. Her name is Rachel and she is a gifted photographer, as well as a fellow youth worker and an encouraging soul. While we have never met in person, I’ve been able to turn to Rachel the past couple of months as we both step out and do big things this year and share a little bit of that experience from opposite sides of Lake Michigan.
• I downloaded a free ebook and got a surprise email from the author himself. Ron Vitale is the author of Cinderella’s Secret Diaries, and in his email he offered community: something I have found is hard to find for other aspiring writers. There often seems to be this distinct divide between published and not, and I truly appreciate Ron reaching out and bridging that gap for me.

I think that is what the internet has done for me: it has bridged the gaps.

Geography and experience don’t matter quite so much when we all have access to the same internet. We can all access the same knowledge, the same tips, the same people. And authors – like Ron – can help other writers navigate the ever-changing and muddled path of publishing, hopefully with our hearts and talent intact.

So, a special thank you to everyone on the internet who is using it for good: to build community, to listen, and to help. Thank you.