Sat here in Rome drinking rather expensive yet at the same time delicious coffee.
This trip was more personal than business or pleasure. Five years ago I lost two friends within a week of each other in circumstances that were just hard to get over. One died in childbirth, the other took her own life after being ”trolled” online.
I never made it to either funeral; I was in Japan at the time for both. I wanted to leave it some time until I was able to pay my respects, something’s led to another and it is only now that I really have the time to pay my respects to one of my friends.
Looking back there are always things that you think that you could have done differently, maybe had called them, stayed with them. Yet there are times when you just never know. I had a moment yesterday in a crematorium where peace was made, questions were answered and regrets were put to sleep.
Yet the feeling that someone was drawn to take his or her life in this manner made me realise that sometimes the Internet can be a monster.
The Internet is as part of our lives as our own arms and legs. We are constantly connected to the world, from the moment we wake until the moment we sleep. We are always bonded by some form of connectivity.
Some people have an excellent balance between their personal lives and social media. Others, I feel, spend all their lives online. They lie behind a window where all they can see is what they believe. What can be a meaningless comment, a like of a friend’s photo? Or even a smiley face can be taken the wrong way entirely.
I’ve read countless articles about people who have lost their lives to jealousy and pressure from social networking. My friend was one of them. I knew a little of what was happening, but had no idea to the full extent of the issues. If I did, I would have never got on the plane to Japan.
This year I’ve seen friends who have let social networking run their lives. I feel sorry for them.
Outside of a laptop there is a big wide world that needs exploring. A world that can allow dreams and reality to happen. A world that is above anything we can experience online.
I leave Rome soon, back to Stockholm with a clear indication that 2015 is going to be a year spent less online, more in the real world.
Just wish that my friend were here to see it too.
