Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 23:28:03 EST From: far from the mud and crud Subject: FILLER: people... Just a ramble, a walk with some words to see where they may take me... I was flipping through postings, and the people--the individuals!--somehow grabbed my attention. I thought about the way that behind the monitor, woven between the lines of pixels and the fonts and the words, grounded deeply in the addresses--there is a person. Someone who breathes, who aches, who rubs their forehead and wonders why they are trying, who quietly cries their life to us... And I was humbled again at the majesty of it all. For a moment, for a time, this person took the chance of showing some of themself to us--they put their own self on the line and said "here I am!" And we must respond with thanks, with acknowledgement of that risk, with a smile for the daring leap of trust. I don't have to agree with your ideas; I don't have to pretend that bad writing isn't bad; I don't even have to like what you may be saying...but I do have to congratulate every person for being themselves, and for trying. Just imagine...behind the label writers@mitvma.mit.edu, underneath the hardware and software, across the internet, the ISPs and the phone lines and all the rest of it--there are over a thousand people. That's an awfully big living room! And that's the real miracle of this medium. It feels close and personal, not like...oh, standing in front of a large auditorium and presenting. It feels more as if you and I were just talking, even if "you" does happen to be more than just one or two folks. So even when I write to "the list" or some such, it's worth taking a few moments to think about the individuals "out there" who I'm talking to. Instead of writing to "the list," I can write to the people. I can think of someone biting their lip, maybe even chuckling or laughing, and of their eyes flitting across the lines... And when they respond, when they put themselves on the line and let us know that they are there...wow! Don't lose sight of that magic, that shared bond of trying and struggling to present ourselves to each other, in the apparent discord, disagreements, and other minor noise of the list. Put your finger on that pulse and feel the heartbeat under the words. That's the person. That's me. Be gentle. tink