I also feel closer to LJ people than to IRL people and I discuss things in my journal that I am "not allowed" to discuss in person (my husband is very nervous about sharing much information at all with people, for some reason.)
Intimacy on LJ is precious to me. I've been on LJ (under different names) since March 2003 so I've been through several...I have SOME good friends but I've also thought I made great friends with some people and had things happen that changed the experience for me.
I am really lacking balance in RL vs online friendships and sometimes I think, "Oh well, maybe I'm just an online kind of person" but sometimes I think..I need some people in person. Maybe even just one. Somebody!
At the same time, I don't devalue or dislike my online friendships.
And yes, you said it well. If I have a tribe, I've lost them in person. And..I mean do none of them live in my state or what has happened? Why can't I find them? Surely there is someone else like me somewhere around here?
I don't know. I have lots of questions recently I guess.
Do you feel this fit the prompt? Because I kept trying different ideas before I came up with this.
I still like virtual hugs:) don't get me wrong. This entry just reflects a lot of questions I have had recently.
I appreciate your insight. You sound somewhat like me so it's nice to know I'm not the only one "struggling" with whether I can find RL friends? (not sure I stated that correctly)
And hugs back:) Maybe there are tribes for us to meet just around the corner..
Face-to-face meetings -- whether it's an online or potential RL friend -- takes effort. It takes effort to get one's self away from the computer and actively seek out people or places, things to do. Back when I was PT at Former Employer I had the time to actually do stuff. I sang in a community chorus. I was part of a community theatre group. I took continuing ed classes. I didn't make any lifelong friendships in any of them, but I did get into groups of people who'd go out for pizza and/or drinks afterward every so often. If all else failed, I could always hop the train and go into the city to wander about!
(You can see where this is going with the "assemble", don't you? Actually this is quite original -- I doubt anybody else would think of "assembly" like this! If you're going to go with this, play with the idea I just gave you.)
I just wish my online friends didn't live so far away! That's the drawback to online friendships. Because you're not face-to-face every day, you miss a lot of the nuances that would naturally unfold in a RL friendship. Again, there's also the effort part. I think most people mean well, but I also think many people don't look at online friendships the way we do because it's virtual as opposed to "real life".
Intimacy on LJ is precious to me. I've been on LJ (under different names) since March 2003 so I've been through several...I have SOME good friends but I've also thought I made great friends with some people and had things happen that changed the experience for me.
I am really lacking balance in RL vs online friendships and sometimes I think, "Oh well, maybe I'm just an online kind of person" but sometimes I think..I need some people in person. Maybe even just one. Somebody!
At the same time, I don't devalue or dislike my online friendships.
And yes, you said it well. If I have a tribe, I've lost them in person. And..I mean do none of them live in my state or what has happened? Why can't I find them? Surely there is someone else like me somewhere around here?
I don't know. I have lots of questions recently I guess.
Do you feel this fit the prompt? Because I kept trying different ideas before I came up with this.
I still like virtual hugs:) don't get me wrong. This entry just reflects a lot of questions I have had recently.
I appreciate your insight. You sound somewhat like me so it's nice to know I'm not the only one "struggling" with whether I can find RL friends? (not sure I stated that correctly)
And hugs back:) Maybe there are tribes for us to meet just around the corner..
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(You can see where this is going with the "assemble", don't you? Actually this is quite original -- I doubt anybody else would think of "assembly" like this! If you're going to go with this, play with the idea I just gave you.)
I just wish my online friends didn't live so far away! That's the drawback to online friendships. Because you're not face-to-face every day, you miss a lot of the nuances that would naturally unfold in a RL friendship. Again, there's also the effort part. I think most people mean well, but I also think many people don't look at online friendships the way we do because it's virtual as opposed to "real life".
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