Sometimes I find it hard to take in the VAST size of our planet, when I think about the gazillions of people who inhabit it for real and in cyberspace. So I’m always shocked when I have some experience that proves the opposite.
Like recently I reconnected with an old friend on Facebook. On her page I notice the name of another friend from LA who I haven’t seen or heard from in 20 years. Turns out she is living a few blocks from me in Carmel. Pretty amazing coincidence.
Then I connect with Amy, a mom in New York who writes for the 50-Something Moms blog like I do– and when I write about Daniel’s holiday card, we discover that our kids go to college together in Wisconsin.
Ok , this stuff can happen. So here’s the latest.
I started on Twitter maybe 6 months ago. Out of the millions of people on Twitter at the time, I didn’t know a single soul. I had no idea how to use it. When you consider the huge numbers, and you’re completely clueless, I can’t begin to explain the total randomness of the connections.
Somehow in all those millions of people roaming the Twitterverse, one of the first people I trade tweets with is Katie Schwartz. She’s not a mom, she’s not a cancer survivor, there’s no reason we would ever connect, but we do. I read her blog, she reads mine, we tweet occasionally, she reads Cluttercast, I send her some scarves. All I really know about Katie is that she lives in Los Angeles, she’s Jewish, and she likes my vintage scarves.
As I mentioned yesterday, recently she interviewed me for her new project 3 Dames with a Clue. Last night Katie’s family reads my interview on Katie’s site and the world starts shrinking.
Because a few years ago, when I needed an attorney in Los Angeles, a friend recommended her friend and thought we’d get along well. We never met in person, but we talked on the phone a few times while the case was going on. The meter was running– so we never discussed anything personal. Or I might have found out that this attorney has a daughter named Katie. I found out last night. My attorney ….is Katie’s mom.
I’m stunned. One degree of separation. Even without Kevin Bacon.
After becoming a writer, artist, TV journalist, mother and breast cancer survivor----I realize nothing turns out the way we expect. So I blog about handling the big and little things — with humor, humanity, and hope.
I am still in complete and utter shock. Every time I think about it, I plotz and laugh — How?! What are the odds?! Seriously?!
You are my first degree of separation. Honestly, I can’t think of a better person to pop my degree-of-separation-cherry with
K
Maybe no one else can fully appreciate the extent of the randomness. At least I know you do. I’m still shocked too.