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Yesterday was a great day. :)
I finally got to meet Alexis in person (after partnering on a business together, haha!), see Craig again (who is so nourishing to my soul), and see Steve Pavlina again (who rocks).
I also got to meet Alexis’ two kids, Kaia and Noah, who are great.
Steve was talking about his blog, and I just got such an overwhelming urge to start blogging again.
So here I am. :)
A really fascinating concept Steve mentioned yesterday is “social currency”… and how people with social networks online are canceling out the need for money in a lot of cases.
For example, with Steve… he just did a 30 day music trial. And when he talked about it at his workshop, he got tons of help from people who read his blog. He got free Skype sessions, one-on-one help, and lots of feedback on the music he was producing.
When he went on a road trip, people who read his blog offered him places to stay as he drove along. (I was one of them – he stayed with Otto and I in Ashland.)
It’s truly a very fascinating way to look at things.
I’ve been noticing it too. The other day I had a wonderful woman contact me and offer to talk with me on the phone. She said she’d been noticing I was going through some tough times lately and wanted to offer some ways to make me feel better.
(Turns out she is a very well-read therapist, knows a lot about Myers Briggs and was using my temperament to teach me some interesting things, and has family connections that give her very “cutting edge” health information that’s about 2 years ahead of the media.)
I would have paid to connect with her if I knew all of that beforehand.
And the more I think about it, the more I realize I’ve been offered a lot of great things actually, just from people who knew me online.
It’s kind of a very empowering way to look at things.
There are many people (understandably) worried about the state of the economy. But I think a lot of people are forgetting that even if the money system goes completely kaput… we’re still all human. And social connections will save us.
Granted, I’ve always been an idealist.
But that being said – sure, we may lose material things… even maybe homes… but our basical survival needs can always be met, without having to rely on any bigger “outside force” like the government. We have our neighbors.
I remember once reading a story about Mother Teresa (she’s one of the top 3 people I admire most). She talked about when she came across a family who hadn’t eaten in days. They were STARVING. And when she gave them a (tiny) portion of rice, the first thing they did was split it in half to give their neighbors, who also hadn’t eaten in a while.
And then I remember this email from an American living in Japan, after they had that huge earthquake.
Wth all this fear-based talk, I think remembering things like this are very empowering.
Your right about it girl. Social connection is somewhat very useful and helpful in lots of ways. Its just a matter of choosing the right people to connect into. Reading your experience makes me realize how lucky I am to be able to connect to lots of friends and they are been so helpful to me as I am to them.