Chat

I've started chatting again. It's not something that I do every day or anything, but it keeps me connected with the world at large & with like minds when Paul's away.

There are lots of people who think that chatting is a waste of time. The truth of the matter is that it can be, but it can also be beneficial. Like anything, it depends how one uses it.

I first started chatting because it was a way to communicate in French. My professor recommended it, so I went with the flow. I don't have a microphone, so it means that I have developped incredibly fast typing skills & I have learned an amazing amount of written day-to-day French.

Nowadays, I also chat with a group of cross stitchers. It's marvelous for motivation to continue & advice when I'm stuck on a particular aspect of a project.

What I've discovered is a community of people online that I don't have a hope in hell of ever meeting in real life here in Australia but people who, over a ten year period, have grown to be quite good friends with similar interests, senses of humour or even family situations. They are academics, engineers, teachers, & house wives ... all sorts of interesting people. We've developped a support group of sorts. We are definitely true friends, regardless of whether we've met or not.

Having said that, I have to admit that Paul & I have met some of these people. In our travels we've met people in Townsville, in Melbourne, in Adelaide, in London & even in Vienna. As we have shared experiences with them that have been either repeated or developped with time, they have become just as real & meaningful friends as has Honey who lives down the street.

Most of my chat friends are long term. I occasionally have an off-the-cuff simple chat, but the majority of people I've known online for years and years. I started chatting in 1999. I think that of the sixteen people on my chat 'friends' list, twelve of them have been there for somewhere between 5 & 8 years. All of them know that I'm married to Paul (many of them have met him in real life or chatted to him), all of them think it's bloody marvelous!

Have you tried yahoo chat or some other program? My suggestion is 'go for it!'