Digital Rhapsody

I am in touch with several friends whom I have not seen in person in many years. For a very long time, I stayed in touch through letters and postcards. That worked, but required a very steady and relentless dedication and the willingness to spend the time. Through the marvel of the latest computer technology, I can communicate with my friends instantaneously. It is completely wonderful to send a message clear across the planet and get an answer back within seconds. Some people claim this kind of instant messaging is deceptive, or illusory, but I disagree. I have a couple of friends I have missed very much over the years, and often wished I would be able to communicate with more ease and less time in between communications. Now I can. There is a certain poetry to the whole process as far as I perceive and experience it. Digital refers to the use of the digits, the fingers, a very tactical, physically real part of our bodies. We are using the touch of fingers, to communicate to another person who uses their fingers, sometimes many thousands of miles away, to return an answer. So, technology uses very real tactile gestures to send and receive messages between families and friends. Touch, an integral part of human closeness, is very much a part of the computer age. I find that very reassuring, the longing for closeness, for connection, expressed by the fingers on our hands, touching a keyboard, making the experience very real in that sense. Hands touching hands, all across the globe, creating a new sense of warmth and belonging, of community out of the box, literally, one digital message at a time. My friends still live very far away, extremely far in some cases, but it no longer feels that way, with each message I receive via the marvels of technology. The world is one big village now, the opinion goes, and that is a good thing. In that global village we get a chance, more than ever, to understand we all long for peace, dignity, health, happiness and belonging, regardless of convictions or circumstances. I find it tears down walls, opens windows, and doors. The exchange of music across the globe is an equally hopeful and enjoyable occurrence. A friend of mine in Morocco sent me a music video this morning, and it was delightful to know he had watched the same video just minutes before sending it across two continents to me. On a cloudy, grey day, I received a beautiful piece of music, hand delivered so to speak, by a dear friend far, far away, but emotionally closer than I ever imagined possible just a few years back. There is a lot of dystopia theory out there when it comes to the future of mankind. This morning I was reminded that not all of it needs to be worrisome.