I have a love-hate relationship with technology, and the world of computers in general.
But then, that’s true about anything I don’t understand. (Including women.)
I do know this: our new cyber world affects the way we communicate. There are no more back fences to chat over. No more front porch swings that allow us to while away the evening sharing town gossip (or, if you are Baptist, it’s not called gossip. . .it’s called ‘prayer concerns’).
Now, we must become proficient at texting (apparently, preferably while driving, or in the same house with the person we are texting because it saves the time to walk or shout), and learn IM and Chat and Tweet, and become Friends on Facebook with people we haven’t seen since high-school.
Okay. I’ll come clean. I’m a little at loose ends. Why? Because my Facebook Friend page has been changed to a Facebook Fan page. And the first email I receive is from a woman who writes, “What’s this all about? I want to be your friend, not your fan!!!” (Really, with all the exclamation points!!!) (“Okay,” I emailed her back, “if you want to be my friend, buy a case of my Power of Pause books. Fans say nice things, but friends buy in bulk!!!”) I haven’t heard back yet. But who knows.
So, I’m learning about the fan page. And here’s what I like: it is is a convenient and beneficial way to make information available, swap ideas, share photos, inspirational stories, and at some level, stay connected. I get some of my best material from the quotes, stories and poems people send my way. It’s amazing really. I love it when they are posted here on the blog. Now, they can be posted on Facebook too. . .
I actually do understand the woman’s email. This is a new world to me. And the word “fan” brings to mind the exuberance of British Football (Soccer) fans, hooligans with 3 or 4 pints under their belt, and caution thrown to the wind, oblivious to decorum, and prone to painting their bellies and chest with letters or numbers (so that even their own mother feigns amnesia).
But here is the infectious part. Watching them, I see the permission to celebrate.
In that case, I am most certainly a fan. . .
. . .of clouds, and sunsets, and poetry that makes me tingle from the base of my spine up into my neck. . .
. . .of the first rose buds in May, and the scent of Bearded Iris, and summer afternoon naps on the lawn. . .
. . .of Beatles music (played loud), and the Tallis Scholars singing Allegri: Miserere, and the sound of the wind through the trees. . .
. . .of Orca whales, and any vista with Mt. Ranier, and the way the sunrise crests on the Casacade Mountain range. . .
. . .of cats that cuddle (dogs too), and people who love to hug, and front porch swings. . .
. . .of sappy movies, and golf with friends, and dark chocolate (with or without friends). . .
. . .of books that transport me to magical worlds, conversations that let me know I’ve got a friend, and French wine that assures me there is a God and a Heaven here on earth. . .
I am a fan. . .of this–borrowing from Mary Oliver–”wild and precious life“
One day we will all die, but the question is how we spent our days. Were we fidgeting over moles and fungi and varmints, or glorying, year by year, in the daffodils?Henry Mitchell, garden writer
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HALLELUJAH!
I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope
for hope would be hope for the wrong thing, wait without love
for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith
but the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought;
so the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.
T.S. Eliot (East Coker III)
The difference between a fan and a friend is there is an arm length difference between something and a fan.
I am a fan of the Beatles, but would like to have been a friend who could have been in the studio to experience their presence and all of the little inside jokes.
I am a fan of tigers, but i would like to be a friend so that they wouldn't try to eat me if I got too close.
I am a fan of dark chocolate… but maybe that is different because we are intimately involved. Yes, dark chocolate is definately my friend.
But I can't be a friend to everyone. Acquaintance, colleague, in fellowship with… but not a friend.
And the practical world difference is …
a Facebook Fan Page let's a person link with an unlimited number of "fans," whereas they limit the number of "friends" one can have. Plus, Facebook allow you to do more stuff through a fan page.
So I'm guessing it's Facebook's call here, word meanings aside.