Something happened. Better said: some things happened.
In the 24 hrs since I posted What I Know Now About Twitter and Blogging That I Didn’t Know a Year Ago, my inbox has come alive with all manner of notifications: retweets, favorites, new followers. It’s exciting! It’s astounding. And it’s also a little scary. Because it is new. It is outside of my realm of previous experiences. It’s pointing me towards more experiences in the unknown. And while I’m pretty sure that this (reaching a wider audience with my writing) is what I wanted, I am also humbled and a little overwhelmed.
This new world of potentially instantaneous connection has managed to win me over on many fronts with some tremendous benefits for me and the various communities to which I belong. The previously secret wealth embedded in interest-driven networks is gradually being revealed to me. And the impact of being read, of being heard, of having my ideas spread and validated on an enormous scale relative to what I previously knew is turning out to be oddly humanizing.
A recent retweet by Jon Spencer (@edrethink) which I can’t find right now reminds us that everyone on the internet is a real person. Right now I am feeling very real, very out there, very visible and also very vulnerable. On the one hand, I think, Man, I just hit a home run! On the other hand, I wonder what’s going to happen the next time I step up to bat. That, I suppose, is somewhat normal: second guessing our good fortune and worrying about the unknown (and unknowable) future rather than enjoying the moment.
So that’s my cue. It’s time to practice celebrating the home run, slap all those high five hands, sit and grin for a bit. Then I go back to practice the next day, and the next day, and the day after that. I keep batting and fielding and work hard to stay in the starting line-up. And sometimes I’m going to strike out. Getting better is the aim of my game and this is how the new game goes.
edifiedlistener 