Listing on Poets and Writers

I just listed myself on the directory of Poets & Writers. I doubt anything would come of it, but you never know. I am constantly surprised by how friendly cyberpals are, and how people reach out to each other, for one thing or another. Submit to my journal. Check out my new book. Do you know XYZ? I have uploaded a new video. Do I know you? Happy anniversary! Follow me on Twitter. Do you have CDs for my radio show? Cute pix! Keep in touch. Come by Friendly Street.

I think it's too easy to be cynical about such possibly ephemeral connections, and I certainly don't think they should replace voice-to-voice, let alone face-to-face. I am just grateful for these contacts, however brief, with people all over the world who I would otherwise have no inkling exist, who have offline lives as complex, rich and dramatic, if not more, as mine. In their multiple invisible webs, these contacts, I hope, would open up new ways of coming to terms with difference, of accepting and living with the Other. The Internet is not just about to save the world, but I am a profile of hope. 


Comments

Sam J. Miller said…
i sometimes feel like half the battle of staying alive is the struggle to evade a true understanding of just how alone we all are, and it's astonishing (in a wonderful way) the extent to which the internet can distract from that...
5:23 PM
Jee Leong said…
More than half the battle? The whole, perhaps?
9:34 AM
Anonymous said…
Why do we "evade" our "alone[ness]"? Sadly, I think Beckett was right about much: individuals seek far too many distractions because they are afraid of too much reality.
4:57 PM
Jee Leong said…
I could stare resolutely at my alone-ness all day, but why do I think I will have more fun chatting online?
6:32 PM
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