Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Impersonal Life

It occurred to me that I live a very insulated life. Most of my friends are online, and nearly all I've never met. Most of the people I interact with at work work in other buildings or other cities. When I come home I pull straight into the garage and seldom see my neighbors.

In short, many of the people who hold important roles in my life are little more than voices on the phone or posts on a chatboard. My circle of friends spans the nation and globe, living and working in places I may never see.

A hundred years ago most people never met anyone from outside their town, and yet they knew nearly everyone there personally. It is a strange and wonderful world.

Someone I never met but admired greatly died yesterday. Someone who has never really existed for me outside my own head is gone. The hole he leaves is real.

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