Like many other busy mums in business my life generally consists of really busy days connecting with dozens of people and evenings speaking as little as possible except for that treasured time with tween and teens who may, or may not feel like engaging.
Oh who the hell am I kidding, by the time the day ends we are all exhausted and mostly grunt a few instructions to one another which on the odd occasion breaks out into a fully blown conversation. I have recently reinvigorated our dinner at the table rule to stimulate just this.
Anyway – when it comes to connections and connecting social media has created a whole new world. And yes, there is much to bemoan about this new environment. However, as I continue to explain to others it’s all about how you use and curate it.
Quite frankly, over the past years social media has been a godsend for me. A connection to the spin cycle of work/home – a new perspective – my yaah squad and in some cases the voice of reason.
Through social media I’ve been able to stay connected with old friends, find new friends and find new dimensions of friendship with a whole range of friends. Social media, particularly Facebook has sat alongside some incredibly difficult days and it’s been there on the great days too.
As my preferred channel to document a more personal account, Facebook has recorded my children growing up, developments in my career, my personal development and even the life of my pets. Even though the level of my sharing may make some cringe it’s certainly been a learning and growing experience. Because my filter is somewhat thin my account has never been picture perfect.
I was speaking with a wise friend just yesterday about connection and the way we connect. It was this friend who inspired the ‘Meet My Friends’ project and of course by my own judgement I couldn’t start this project until Mackenzie and I could sit down for a good conversation.
Now that conversation has been had, and the first post is in motion I’d like to explain the project.
So… my goal (which by the way isn’t time limited) is to meet each and every one of my Facebook friends. Yep, as it stands today that is 1,266 folks. I know already that 4 have passed, I know that many live overseas and I am aware that I don’t even like a few (that’s not you of course).
Why the hell am I doing this? Oh there are so many reasons:
- Connection: I love people. Yeah I know how tacky that sounds but it’s really my honest truth. People are so random, quirky and magnificent. I’m so interested to learn more about ‘my friends’. Is there really anything better than those moments of connection with others? Who knows what I will discover.
- Interest: I’m curious as hell about the people who I’ve been connected with – albeit via a (sometimes) random Facebook link through these years. I’ve truly exposed myself to these folks as many of them have right back at me. I’m so curious to learn more about who they are. Not only that – the whole notion of social media connection fascinates me. I’m so interested to learn more about how we connect as a community now, and what this may mean for the future of civilisation.
- Validation: I have not always lived a life full of good choices – Over the past few years I’ve put a lot of effort into turning that around. The friends I’ve culled – the friends I’ve kept are a small reflection of this. Again, I’m curious.
- A good cull: Perhaps I still have some work to do !
- A life with meaning: There are so many friends on this platform that I truly love and just don’t get to see often enough, at the very least this will provide motivation to lunch, phone, skype – CONNECT. Afterall, life is all about our connections huh.
The rules:
- A min. half an hour connection with each (willing) individual
- Documentation via my blog about the interaction and/or individual
- Send the blog post to the individual prior to publication
- An in person meeting wherever feasible
- Link back to hash tag #meetmyfriends
- No time limits
- the ‘friends’ are listed as at today, 17 September 2018
Want to join me in the project? Too easy (1) please send a FB message so we can set up a time to chat and/or (2) run your own project and link back via #meetmyfriends
So excited…
Let’s go.
