Does what happens in blogland have a real existence, or is it just happening inside my head? Would I ever be prepared to make the move, to translate it into real world experiences? Someone challenged me about this the other day. At least, I think they did. Maybe that was just in my head, too.
There is only one person whom I’ve ‘met’ online and subsequently in the real world. I now think of her as a ‘real world’ friend, though to be honest we have only met in person once, and now communicate mainly via Facebook – I guess that’s a step in the right direction :)) And that makes my relationship with her not so different from many of my other friendships – people I don't see on a regular basis, but communicate with via email or Facebook.
Yet each of us has a separate, physical existence - disregarding any bots or penguins who may be reading this ;). We could pass each other in the street every day without realising that this is the person whose most intimate thoughts we were privy to and responding to only the night before.
And the mere fact that we are drawn to writing in this way is a bond between us all. We are very different people, but there is something which brings us here, and brings us back time after time. Introspective, insecure, lonely, vulnerable… well, that’s enough about me ;) or exhibitionists, perhaps,? Throwing out our craziness here, where we can be safely anonymous, where no one will require us to face the consequences of our actions, or inaction.