Making the Connection

Textures by Kim Klasson: Luminous, 80% overlay and Lola, 50% multiply

Connections. We all want them. We all need them.

Every single one of us is created for relationships. It’s wired into our DNA. Our first connection is with our parents. Oh how we, as parents, thrill when our baby smiles at us for the first time. It reaffirms the belief that we’re worthy, special and needed. For better or worse, parents are the first imprint on a child’s emotional development, setting the tone for their ability to form lasting relationships later in life.

But aside from our relationships with family, we crave connections with others as well. We long to have someone with whom we can be intimate with and share special moments. We search out those that share our interests and call them friends. We seek solace and refreshment in nature, feeling the special connection we have with other living things. We look to the stars and wonder if there are “others” out there like us.

And some of us blog.

For those that don’t, this won’t make any sense. But the connections formed in the blogosphere are sometimes every bit as valuable as the BFF across town. While they’ll never take the place of in-person, face-to-face conversations, they’re still connections I’m happy to consider as friends.

Call it social media. Call it a subculture. Call it whatever you’d like. But where else can virtually anyone bridge the distance gap and have connections in Italy as well as across the nation in California, Oregon, Nebraska, Georgia, Virginia, New York and coastal New England?! And I’d be thrilled to meet for breakfast/lunch/happy hour/dinner with each and every one of them (okay, maybe not breakfast since I’m not a morning person). My guess is we’d be able to talk for hours. One could say we, in fact, meet and visit almost every day as it is anyway.

And even though blogging affords a certain amount of anonymity, I believe I know many of my more faithful commenters almost as well as my close, personal friends. And to you all I say thank you! Building bridges and connections take time. And I truly appreciate the time you all have taken to stop in and regularly leave comments. I look forward to “seeing” you…or at least your gravetar. 🙂

Relationships. Like bridges, we need them in many different forms to make connections that enrich our lives and make us complete.

Linking up with Tuesday Muse and Texture Tuesday.