The Importance of Connecting With Others

What are connections? A connection is when things are tied or linked together like wires, pipes, and roads. Connections can also be applied to people who are tied or linked together in various ways like social connections through sports clubs and church or family connections through kin and relations. Often people have connections at school or work, at service organizations and social clubs. Connections can be made at parties and other events in our lives.

I spent much of my weekend connecting, as I co-chaired a Friends-Of-the-Library charity event at the Poquoson Seafood Festival. I enjoyed interacting with other volunteers and with customers who browsed and/or bought items from our annual used paperback book sale. There was a great turnout at the Poquoson Seafood festival as we had great weather. The whole event was so much fun. And, I was delighted to see old friends and make new ones over the weekends. We exchanged hugs, encouragement and had an opportunity to catch up and/or learn about each other.

I even got to exchange a few words with one of candidates running for Senator representing Virginia in Congress. If he had an opportunity to spend more time with me, he might have swayed my vote his way; but, alas, he did not. It was interesting to see how he worked the crowd and how easily any candidate could feel a sense of support. Admirers gravitated to him, yearning for a handshake, an exchange of words and maybe a photograph.

Connections allow people to exchange positive energy with each other through love, compassion, kindness and support.  As we progress through the 21st century, connections have become easier and easier to make. (There is some thought among a few is that we may even be over-connected, but that is fodder for another blog.) Looking at the positive side of connections, it is exciting to see how many ways one can connect with others, especially with other like-minded individuals.

There are so many social networking sites from the popular Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, as well as, professional networking sites like LinkedIn, ZoomInfo and Bright Fuse.  And websites like Ning allow anyone to create very specific social networking sites designed for whatever the host would like, for example: artists, writers, educators, and so on.

Do you remember connecting the dots in dot-to-dot puzzle as a youngster? You would start with the first dot and create a picture by following a sequence of numbered dots. Connections among people can also be seen this way.  Let us create beautiful pictures with our connections. And, let us remember why it is so important to speak and act with compassion and love when we connect with others.

The far-reaching connections are boundless. It is amazing who knows who because of you-know-who. Some may call it karma, but it truly is because we are all interconnected. How would you like to be connected to others? May it always be in a be in a positive way. (This is an edited re-post from February 6, 2012)

Related articles

• You: Show and Tell–Poquoson Seafood Festival (bdoutdoors.com)