Trish writes to an anonymous visitor to her site,”You’re not alone. I’ve been there.” She writes that to the visitor based only on the search term that she saw in her traffic report. She has no idea if the visitor stayed – the visitor had not left a comment. But Trish saw the Search term, and posted THAT to the person out there in the wilderness, who had come to her site … looking for something … hope, connection, information, solidarity, understanding.
Just sit for a second and contemplate how amazing that is. Yes, it’s amazing, too, that the “anonymous visitor” eventually identifies herself in the comments section – but even before that: to say to someone you have never met, and may never meet, “You’re not alone. I’ve been there.”
THAT is the Internet at its best.
Actually, screw the Internet. That is humanity at its very best.
Thank you, Trish. For your example.
What a wonderful, heartbreaking story.
If you were looking for one single example to counter the arguments about the Internet shutting everybody off from human interaction in the ‘real world’, this would be it.
Thank you for posting about that, Sheila – I’d not have run across it in my usual round of blog-reading.
I need stories like that – heck, it feels like daily now – as a countermeasure to all the “humanity is bad” crap that seems to be going on.
May we all be able to be as kind and reaching-out as Trish was when we are given the opportunity.
Wow, that blew me away. Thanks for finding & sharing that, Sheila.
Wow. Just wow. I logged onto my blog this morning, and honestly, I’ve been feeling so down and harrassed right now, trying to get ready for the holidays and not living up to my own self-expectations. But to log on, and see this comment, and this reaction…well, let’s just say that I’m trying very hard to keep my students from seeing my tears. I’m deeply, deeply humbled.
Thank you all. Thank you. And yes, I believe the internet is much more than a collection of networked computers, it’s a connection of souls reaching out for understanding, for context, and for community.
Trish
etrish.wordpress.com
blessedarethebarren.wordpress.com
Trish – amen. I really need to learn that lesson myself -and your post has helped.
Thank you!!
Thank you for that link, sheila. You know what it means to me.