How real is virtual? ( Archived) (39)

I´ve been in here for less than a month, and I´ve been spending loads of time here with you guys. I already know many of you better than I know my next door neighbor. I know details about some of your lives. Painful, pleasant, scary, joyful, whatever - INTIMATE details. I have even made some friends, and yes, I have even met someone who´s made me melt in my shoes (no I´m not telling you who he is ).

The internet. It has speeded up my life. I run errands more quickly than ever. I pay my bills, I shop, I get pizza delivered, I get my groceries delivered, I study, I read, I find useful information and useless too. I MEET PEOPLE. I MAKE FRIENDS. All much faster.

However, the rules and procedures are the same. Why wouldn´t they be? It´s HUMANS behind the click clicks. This to me is very real. I remember my teen days when it took AGES to get to know that stud who was only into freaky little barbies, and when I did, what a waste of time it was. Internet saves me this trouble and time, it makes my life easier. I know what I want, and I can find it more quickly, with no more guarantees than I have out of this site.

So what´s the deal? Do I just close this site and make everything go away? Everyone? All the talks, all the life that´s being put in here? Should I do that just because I can? Because it´s true, I can. But it´s also true that in here we find people who care, people who listen, who are unafraid to share; people with problems, people who suffer, people who like me and people who don´t.

This, to me, is LIFE. Don´t tell me to get one. I´m using the available technology to help me live, just like centuries ago people used regular mail to meet, know each other, propose and get married. Were they more real than this?

I don´t need to get a life. I work hard. I study. I´m heading towards my Master´s degree. I direct a theater group. I teach, prepare lessons, correct homework, prepare and correct tests, I dance, I cry, I laugh, I talk, I recycle, I make plans, I change plans, I go to waterfalls, to the movies, read, play chess... I do all these things and a bit more. I´m not a sociopath, I´m not a psychopath, I´m a normal person.

I like some people here, I don´t like others. Some people like me, some don´t. I don´t need to be loved or love everyone. I am here for real, and I hate to think I can be "turned off" with "just a click" from someone else, when I am here, as real as I can be.

Wheew... Just thinking out loud...

but saying its fast-make friends faster?

nuh uh

wasnt a good idea for me in R/L
not a real or viable idea for me still

friendships take time

ive lived making fast friends its too weird-always fell apart and really hurt-ive been told normal people-well healthy people-dont operate that way...

Really strange, isn't it? You meet people here and become friends without really ever meeting them. Just plain weird! Some of the people I've talked to-- seems like you've know them all your life when in reality you've written a month or so. Think maybe its a little easier for everyone to be able to express themselves - maybe even show what's in their makeup - behind that curtain you call a handle.

Define TIME.
I´ve known people for ages and they turn out not to be what they appear. I´ve even been married not knowing whom to. So time for what? To get to know people? Is time some sort of guarantee? Not to me. To me, FEELINGS are some SORT of guarantee; even they ensure nothing at all.
Wanna be safe? Lie in your coffin and wait til you die. There´, maybe nothing bad will happen to you.

Yes Woody!!
Nice meeting you BTW!
Wanna tell me more about what you said?

So it´s all real to you?
You don´t consider the internet an "unreal" place?
Why is "virtual" associated with "unreal"?

Back at ya! I think you can bare more of your soul to people online just BECAUSE of the fact that no one really knows who/what you are. You don't have to hide your true self like most end up doing in their real life/job/ect. You and I are a thousand miles apart yet we can sit here and type about our innermost feelings to each other knowing that most likely we will never meet and getting almost instant responses to questions, hurts, happiness, ect. Simply incredible.

I understand your thinking, I do much of the same thing. People sit at the computers and get on dating sites for various reasons. "MY" reason, is I caretake my elderly mother and I feel I need to be responsible and be here as much as possible.. Do I find it hindering? Yes, I do. I have always been an extremely active person, on the go often. Today, I cannot do this but I also realize what I am now doing is only temporary.

I have no clue as to why some can just sit here hour after hour, day after day with nothing holding them back from going out and socializing. If it were not for my friends here that I can pop over and have coffee with several time a week, I would be locked in a rubber room..