Lovely use of sentiment and language to express your perspective. I think you have an important point. It resonates with me emotionally. I agree that media offers a sickness masquerading as connected existence but my I am not sure Keats was such a happy bunny either with his “negative capability” . Life is agony even in the absence of - or perhaps in spite of - immediate danger. A little wave from our cave is warmth to a cold heart ❤️
You're ABSOLUTELY right to bring up Keats and his “negative capability.” I’ve always found that phrase strangely comforting, in the way it allows for a kind of dignity in uncertainty and suffering, a stillness amid the unresolvable. Maybe the real affliction is in our being conscious of it, and yet reaching still. And your last sentence might just be the most beautiful line I’ve read in days. Thank you for sending that wave. I caught it. 💗
I . . . dunno. Maybe it is because I grew up before the Net, and thus developed my sense of self before I first went online, but I view cyber connectedness as a part of my life, not my life. I have movies, I have books, I have walks, I have travel, and I have my online friends. I am lucky enough to have a decades-long marriage, so my sense of this world is not that of loneliness, but curiosity.
I learn so much online. I used to be bored as an only child, and I would have killed to have a connection to friends around the world. Now I sometimes meet my online friends in real life, and I’m the same way in both. They are too. I’m never shocked to meet them. To me that’s real enough to be satisfying.
And I remember the before times.
So I acknowledge your loneliness, and note you seem to have a great deal of company in this. But the solution is what you wrote: the long walks, the good books by the fire. We all need time alone with our thoughts in order to even have thoughts. I was lucky to be born when I did, but people just have to work harder at it to achieve the same.
I don’t think I am lonely either, not in the aching, absence-of-connection way. But I understand what you're saying! Maybe what strikes me is how rare it is now to hear someone describe the online world as just a part of life, rather than the central stage. For many who came of age with the internet, it’s so thoroughly planted into their consciousness that separating where they end and the network begins feels like a metaphysical puzzle.
I love that you frame curiosity as the driving force. I absolutely agree, that’s a powerful shift. You were lucky to be born when you were, but I think your mindset is something all can aspire to, regardless of when they arrived.
Once again excellent piece, we live in troubling times.
Thank you! Exactly...
Lovely use of sentiment and language to express your perspective. I think you have an important point. It resonates with me emotionally. I agree that media offers a sickness masquerading as connected existence but my I am not sure Keats was such a happy bunny either with his “negative capability” . Life is agony even in the absence of - or perhaps in spite of - immediate danger. A little wave from our cave is warmth to a cold heart ❤️
You're ABSOLUTELY right to bring up Keats and his “negative capability.” I’ve always found that phrase strangely comforting, in the way it allows for a kind of dignity in uncertainty and suffering, a stillness amid the unresolvable. Maybe the real affliction is in our being conscious of it, and yet reaching still. And your last sentence might just be the most beautiful line I’ve read in days. Thank you for sending that wave. I caught it. 💗
I . . . dunno. Maybe it is because I grew up before the Net, and thus developed my sense of self before I first went online, but I view cyber connectedness as a part of my life, not my life. I have movies, I have books, I have walks, I have travel, and I have my online friends. I am lucky enough to have a decades-long marriage, so my sense of this world is not that of loneliness, but curiosity.
I learn so much online. I used to be bored as an only child, and I would have killed to have a connection to friends around the world. Now I sometimes meet my online friends in real life, and I’m the same way in both. They are too. I’m never shocked to meet them. To me that’s real enough to be satisfying.
And I remember the before times.
So I acknowledge your loneliness, and note you seem to have a great deal of company in this. But the solution is what you wrote: the long walks, the good books by the fire. We all need time alone with our thoughts in order to even have thoughts. I was lucky to be born when I did, but people just have to work harder at it to achieve the same.
I don’t think I am lonely either, not in the aching, absence-of-connection way. But I understand what you're saying! Maybe what strikes me is how rare it is now to hear someone describe the online world as just a part of life, rather than the central stage. For many who came of age with the internet, it’s so thoroughly planted into their consciousness that separating where they end and the network begins feels like a metaphysical puzzle.
I love that you frame curiosity as the driving force. I absolutely agree, that’s a powerful shift. You were lucky to be born when you were, but I think your mindset is something all can aspire to, regardless of when they arrived.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Nick!