Connections

Like you, perhaps, I am turned on by connecting. I enjoy the feeling that comes with connection - positive connection, that is. (There's probably a kind of connection that occurs in negative interactions, but that's not my style nor is it the feeling I enjoy...!) Today I experienced connection with strangers on Twitter and Facebook. I later learned that one of my not-personally-known-to-me "Facebook Friends" is actually registered for an upcoming Intimacy Retreat - so he won't remain a stranger much longer! It seems odd to write the word stranger... People we don't know "follow" us and "friend" us. No one is really a stranger, once that contact has been made.

Also on Facebook, there are connections with "real" friends, i.e., people with whom I have a relationship in "real" life. It was via Facebook that I heard about one such friend's emergency room experience last night. It was via Facebook that I learned of the death of one of the drummers from the Siesta Key Drum Circle. (It was on MySpace that I found his photo and memorable words to share at his memorial.)

Pulling myself away from the computer, I went to meet some local friends, a salon-style gathering where the topic was creativity. Instead of "commenting" online, we spoke and commented in each other's presence. This kind of face-to-face connection is vital and must not be allowed to be crowded out by all the virtual connections that keep us so busy.

And then, of course, there's the connection I share with my beloved, my husband, my lover. Entering into the sacred space of our love, together, our connection opens us up to a connection with All That Is.

In some sense, if you're reading this, we too are sharing a connection. Can you feel it?

Social Networking? Significant Others?

Much of my day revolves around connecting with my S.O.’s. With Richard, my husband and MOST significant other, I take time every day to connect in a magical, meditative, spiritually, sexual way. If you’ve read our book, you know that we are hooked on S.E.X. as a Synchronized Energy eXchange. Yes, tantric sex keeps our marriage juicy after almost 25 years!

And there are other significant people I stay in touch with. Family and close friends. Far and near. Inner circle. As often as possible, but not always every day and sometimes not even every month.

There are all the warm acquaintances and friends with whom I sometimes party, watch sunsets with, meet by chance in the supermarket or at yoga on Siesta Beach. Real people in real time. When there’s time. (Missed yoga this morning. But I’m headed out soon to lead T’ai Chi Chih on the beach, as long as those clouds keep moving away.)

And then there are all those digital connections via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, articles and emails. My “reading public.” (First time I've ever used that term, I like the sound of it!) I stay in touch with dozens, hundreds, thousands of people whom I will probably never meet face-to-face. Yet there is significance in these relationships, too. It’s not just “business” networking. Many of my connections in cyberspace are people who are also reaching out to the world to share themselves, their dreams, and to help make it a better world, for themselves and for others. It’s truly a social network, a social movement that is growing larger by the nanosecond. I enjoy being part of that network, connecting with my many significant others. I love you all!