for so long now, i've had a love/hate relationship with my computer.

and digital photography means that i am tethered to my machine.

i have to sit my ass in a chair in a room in my house in order to complete my photographic vision.

no more standing in a dark room with a red light, often with other people, swaying to music, watching my visions come alive.

nope. here i sit. alone. when all i want is to be out, with people, moving and seeing and living. connecting.

and while i have participated in many online classes, and have had a blog now for a couple years, and even met and had an amazing experience with the first ever people to whom i wrote after reading their blog ...

still, the people in my computer seemed so far away. little links that appeared as "handles" were mostly just that, little letters on my screen with an underline.

i never really thought about the actual people who are on the other side of those underlines, those funny names. until now.

link = whole human being.

link = potential friend.

link = possible soul sister.

and computer = connection.

(kind of like the telephone, but i can "call" people i haven't actually met yet.)

maybe the younger set has known this all along.

but i just realized this at camp when i actually got to meet the living ladies behind the links. and saw how connected people were with their "online" friends, before they ever met in real life.

and i realized, my computer is my passport to the world. and to friends. to love.

Update on 2011-11-01 05:53 by hillarah

this post is for meghan who took the time and made the effort to comment on my blog once or twice over the last many months, and to whom i never responded.

she happened to be in my carpool down to asilomar for camp. and we happened to learn in those two hours that we are total soul sisters.

i could have learned that, had that, a long time ago and had even more yummy sister goodness in my life! now i know!

Update on 2011-10-28 07:23 by hillarah

on the last night of camp, i witnessed up close the first meeting of adriana (huge maine momma fan) and kristen (maine momma). all love and hugs and excitement. another example of the real power of internet connection.