friend moment

there is something a little sadly weird going on

email

emails fly back and forth between "friends"
who have the choice to respond
or not

if a "friend" was sitting across the table and asked a question
we would respond
or at least acknowledge the question

so why is it
when a question comes via email
we feel we have the right not to respond
or even acknowledge

and now facebook

what exactly does "friend" mean

I get requests from people I have never met
to accept them as "friend" - what is that all about

they know nothing about me
I know nothing about them
and yet
they ask to be a "friend"

why are so many only comfortable
having a relationship
with the distance of the internet between

have we lost the desire to touch
to see
to hear
to wipe the tears from another's cheek
to offer a shoulder
to simply silently be with another
in good times
and not so good times

what happened to the hug

to looking in one another's eyes

if the eyes are the window of the soul
is there a log in the way
so we try to hide from one another
and stay hidden
in the ether of the internet

I admit
I love to touch
and be touched

but the impersonalization
of this whole phenomenon
saddens me

something very valuable
and rich
is disappearing from our lives
and we are less whole in its loss

take a moment
touch someone