One of the marvels of technology is how it connects us...
CNY, and this year my 'oldest' friend, as usual, in her spontaneous way asked if we could meet... even though at the time of the request, she was still around 100km away from our hometown. This old friend... We went to the same kindy, primary and secondary school and even same the university. And we managed to stay in touch all these years.
A few hurried messages and we discovered 4 of us were available... So she picked everyone and we ended up in a packed mall. On our way home, we thought it'd be nice to try to rope in our childhood friends and form a group. And that gave rise to our What's App group. Within 2 days we managed to round up around 10 of our old friends... mostly friends from the time we were 6 or 7. We are now in 5 countries.
What this has turned into is a group or place for us to chatter about our days, share our stories. And it can go on throughout the day. We've had hillarious moments like when the group first started and how one after another would say their phone was out of juice... something which has never happened to many of them. Some will say women like to chatter...
Holidays have been shared... Being able to snap a photo means you can snap flowers in your garden and everyone can see them without you having to pluck them. We've shared recipes, talked about everything under the sun and the moon.... very much like those days when we were youths. Conversations flow and ebb. Anyone is free to come and go. And because we are located on different continents, the conversations continue throughout the day. There is no obligation to be involved in every single conversation. Anyone is free to scroll up or down or none at all. Anyone is free to add or not to add to the conversation.
I think this is a wonderful thing about technology. It enables people to come together, stay connected like never before. Lives are shared.... support given and received... It's quite amazing. Oh well, we might have a few arguments perhaps too, down the road.
What's App, Tango, Line, Skype, We Chat... There are plenty of apps out there who keep the communication lines open. But whatever they may be, one thing for sure. They keep us connected in a most heartwarming way.
In the early days, I could go to sleep and wake up with 1000 messages unread... It is not that intense any more but the messages are still coming in, conversations are still running. We talk about the mundane, from the flowers in our garden, our children and their quirky behaviours, the sights along our jogging paths, our daily routine, the falling snow, our kid's bicycle ride and even mourn together the disappearance of MH370.
No comments:
Post a Comment