No one in my large family really gets me. Facebook is my new neighborhood. It has everythingI want in a neighborhood. I feel included.
I have felt that way for a long time, I just didnt know how to express it.
No one in my large family really gets me. There is always an underlying awkwardness that I reacted to bywithdrawing and separating myself from the crowd. Family gatheringswere painful and so we seem to have abandoned the effort. I have donefairly well without these connections over the years. Amazing what aperson can get used to. But.
I received 75 birthday cards yesterday. Seventy Five!
Well, they were Facebook greetings on my computer, but they werereceived as if I were tearing open all the envelopes one by one. Someof the people sending greetings are old friends. One of them, my highschool drama teacher, who I recently found on Facebook,I havent seensince 1970. Other friends are new. Most I have never met face to face.One was from a close family member.
Facebook is my new neighborhood. It has everythingI want in a neighborhood. There are always people to interact withabout any issue under the sun. It reminds me of life in Tower Dorm at Marquette University.No matter what time you came in, there was always a bevy of girls withrollers in their hair and cream on their faces ready to debrief you onyour last wayward date.
It is a very polite neighborhood too. If I dont want to beavailable, I simply disregard what is going on and check up on whatother people are into that day. If it gets noisy, I just turn off thespeakers. If people are rude, I can evict them from my neighborhood.
If I want to see pictures of a friends recent vacation or newgrandbaby, I simply go to their Facebook page and not only do I get tosee the photos, I can leave a note to let them know I stopped by. Yes,there are lots of grandmas and grandpas on Facebook!
It is easy to expand the borders of my neighborhood. Mari Smith, Pied Piper of Social Media,has a free e course that tells you how to get started. I wish I wouldhave had this fab how-to guide right from the start. She knows how tomake it easy to meet your new neighbors. You can get the basics bysigning up for the free ecourse at http://www.marismith.com I will be interviewing Mari soon so watch your mailbox! I cant wait for my neighborhood to meet Mari!
If you are already a member of Facebook andwant to use it to expand your business, you will be astounded at theatmosphere of positivity you will find in your new neighborhood.Internet business is taking the world by storm. There is a newparadigm, a new business model that you cant afford not to know about.
If you want to be part of the slim percentage that is still makingmoney in this economy, you will save yourself headaches, belly achesand wallet aches if you invest in Social Media Simplified, a DVD series on how to maximize your business on line. The internet is the new marketplace.make it your neighborhood!
While all of the perks of living in this new neighborhood have beensurprisingly profitable for my business, by far the best part isfeeling connected to people who care enough to send the very best,their heart felt messages, a bit of themselves, over the miles. Yousee, I didnt get any cards in my real mailbox on my birthday. I knowfor sure that my birth family loves and cares for me. We are justcompletely disconnected from one another and out of each others loops.
What I Know For Sure (Thanks Oprah!)is that the feelings that I used to think could only come from my birthfamily; the feeling inside of being respected, admired and liked; theprecious feeling of knowing someone get you, is available fromliterally thousands of other people you havent met yet. There issomething to this Tribe idea (thank you Seth Godin). When one tribe doesnt get you, there are countless other ones you can find that will!
I feel included. And for a girl who has had more of her fair shareof exclusion in life, that feels amazing. 75 people took a moment andwrote a birthday greeting. It was the best birthday party ever.
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