Audio Attitude

Have you heard of Twitter?  Brian Noe suggested I give it a try.  I was skeptical.  I am not a famous blogger, a new media evangelist, or a candidate for president whose missions in life require their visibility.  Who cares what I do during my day?  But after signing up and trying Twitter, I think I am starting to understand. 

Twitter is a little like being at a beach, the village square, or a local park — where mutual visibility occurs in a shared context.  People at the park sit on a bench, take a stroll, nap, wave, toss a ball, or picnic.  Activities like these do not require a public setting.  Why a public park?

The experience of “being” in a social context enriches us.   We like to see each other live.  At the park, our eyes follow an old couple walking slowly together holding hands.  We realize our fortune of time.  We smile at the kids playing catch, chasing each other in a game of tag, and laughing.  We remember the treasure of playfulness.  We watch a young family enjoying their picnic together.  A surge of fondness for loved ones beats in our hearts.  In the distance an artist captures the scene and we realize how life is rich.  None of these observations at the park is profound.  Yet the collection seems worthwhile.

Sharing proximity with people of different ages, backgrounds, abilities, energies, and interests is a way for us to appreciate life.  The park invites us to live and let live.  Nobody cares if we come or not.  Nobody cares whether we sit, walk, read, sleep, talk, paint, or play.  But everyone can benefit from the shared experience.

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