When I was first introduced to connecting with people online in 2002, social media was in its infancy. It was a zygote, really. There had been rudimentary exchanges that allowed people with singular interests to gab and argue about their interests on bulletin boards, message groups, and forums for a decade or more prior but I knew nothing of those. The personal computer was not a fixture in everyone's home until the 1990's. Perhaps because my online social encounters were small and intimate, I had a bit more orientation than most to manners and caution around virtual communication. It seems that way to me now because twenty years later the exchanges on social media move so fast and furious, even if one makes a social gaff, it will be swallowed within minutes or hours. Unless, of course one wanders too close to something tempestuous or seductive and they are called out for a social thrashing or a viral boost in popularity bringing attention that could be either enjoyable or personally devastating.
I use social media with the lightest touch. I use it to share my BlogCasts, commentary about my life via profile pictures, and heartfelt responses to others postings in the comments, mostly. I'm intentional. To me social media is a way to keep tabs on people I care about. Circumstance has me isolated so contact is important...so is kindness and manners; so is respecting others.
In all the ways we can, we continue to try and connect with each other because we are human in the same way now as we were in Hafiz' time. Then and now, we mess it up with packing the heat of our verbal arsenal and projecting our malcontent.
Thank you for listening.
This poem of Hafiz' This Sane Idea written in his time of the world made me think of how we are still learning how to understand that we must not bring our weapons to our conversations and we have not realized how the attachment and need to have defenses close invites the need to use them. We are awash in technology. If we do not want to drown, we best keep our footing, know our boundaries, and cultivate kindness. Mostly we must learn to fully identify, understand and leave off the defenses; we are our own worst enemies with them.
Music: I was at a bit of a loss for this one as far as a song for this post then I was led to this...
...There'll be the breaking of the ancient
Western code
Your private life will suddenly explode
There'll be phantoms
There'll be fires on the road
And the white man dancing...
The Future, Leonard Cohen
The original post in this series of poems by Hafiz can be found here.
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz and translated by Daniel Ladinsky can be purchased here.