What Really Matters?

The online world – a place of magic, mystery and sometimes, misery.

When I first started online, it was a place of discovery…then of enchantment…then of disenchantment.

I wondered what significant beneficial difference it was making in my life, and in the lives of those I touched.

I fell in love, in many ways, with the possibilities, the unknown, the sheer magnitude of what seemed like infinite promise and possibility.

I fell in love with people. People who live in places I’ve never been, and places as familiar to me as the back of my hand. Places of mystery and intrigue. People of different lifestyle, experience and perspective.

I fell in love with “promise”. The promise of “results”. If I only did it “right”, followed the advice of all those experts and gurus, posted, commented, shared, tweeted, g+’d and lived-breathed-ate online, the results would follow.

In actual fact, I felt like I was singing the song “One Tin Soldier”, believing that some mystic, magical treasure lay just beyond my grasp and all I needed to do was turn the stone and look beneath it.

I’ve turned the stone.

I’ve looked beneath it.

And I know one thing for certain.

The answer lies within, not without.

Despite all the promises and protestations that abound online, the one thing that is real is that which is real and unique for you…for me…for each of us individually.

When everything starts looking the same, sounding the same, it’s time to step away and ponder:

What am I doing?

Why am I here?

In many ways, I’m a quill pen person living in a digital world who believes in civility, manners, compassion, laughter, the arts and love. And although I value and use the digital tools, my heart yearns for simpler times and things, and I don’t believe the two are incompatible. I just think that the beauty of the moment, and being fully present is sometimes lost in this mad rush to the top.