The Tsunami and the Need for Connection - Reflections One Year Later
In the space of the first two weeks after the tsunami in the Indian Ocean last winter, Americans contributed nearly $350 million dollars to the relief effort for hundreds of thousands of those whose lives were torn apart. This says something about the generosity and concern of millions who have seen the suffering not first hand but only by way of satellite. Perhaps it says something else as well.
Less than two weeks later, a 33-year old computer store owner in Springfield, Virginia bid $3,550 on eBay for the right to aid a 9 year-old boy he’d never met fight a potential cancer named “Frank” on the base of his skull. This also says something about the generosity and concern of an American for someone in need. Perhaps it too says something else as well.
It may seem odd that we are moved so much by events that, were it not for advanced technology, we might never know about. It may seem odd that we feel bonds of affection for those we will never speak to, touch, or see except as a digital image. But maybe this is not as odd as it seems.
This generosity is more than an outpouring of financial largesse. Perhaps these events fill a need for human connection that is somehow missing in lives pulled apart by the pace of technology itself. In our 24/7 world, where we are constantly on the move, on the make, and on call, perhaps we are desperately seeking ways to reduce our isolation and add a human touch to the technological wizardry that drives our days. Could it be that the very medium we love to hate because it never leaves us alone has actually enabled us to fight loneliness itself? As futurist John Naisbitt said at the start of the computer age, the more high tech we become, the more we will look to become hi touch as well.
This generosity may also be a response to the lack of community we feel in a world where we lack time for family, never see or don’t know our neighbors, and increasingly, in sociologist Robert Putnam’s famous phrase, find ourselves “bowling alone.” In a society where so many of us ride in our own cars, live in gated communities, and come home at the end of a long commuting and working day without the energy to even attend a PTA meeting, perhaps the chance to click onto our favorite Web site and give money to someone who is suffering, even if doing so to the ebay or Amazon.com “community,” makes us feel a bit more connected to the human family.
To the extent that our generosity to unseen others reflects our need for human connection and community, the events of the last few weeks may offer an important insight on how we live our lives and what we want them to become. If that is true, perhaps we should turn more attention to coming closer together with those who share our homes and communities. This need not negate the generous spirit that characterizes how we view those in need around the world. We will, hopefully, always be there for strangers. But it might just free us to reexamine the way we live our lives and enable us to be there for those closer to home. If that happens, the millions we have helped abroad may have given us an equally generous gift in return.
Less than two weeks later, a 33-year old computer store owner in Springfield, Virginia bid $3,550 on eBay for the right to aid a 9 year-old boy he’d never met fight a potential cancer named “Frank” on the base of his skull. This also says something about the generosity and concern of an American for someone in need. Perhaps it too says something else as well.
It may seem odd that we are moved so much by events that, were it not for advanced technology, we might never know about. It may seem odd that we feel bonds of affection for those we will never speak to, touch, or see except as a digital image. But maybe this is not as odd as it seems.
This generosity is more than an outpouring of financial largesse. Perhaps these events fill a need for human connection that is somehow missing in lives pulled apart by the pace of technology itself. In our 24/7 world, where we are constantly on the move, on the make, and on call, perhaps we are desperately seeking ways to reduce our isolation and add a human touch to the technological wizardry that drives our days. Could it be that the very medium we love to hate because it never leaves us alone has actually enabled us to fight loneliness itself? As futurist John Naisbitt said at the start of the computer age, the more high tech we become, the more we will look to become hi touch as well.
This generosity may also be a response to the lack of community we feel in a world where we lack time for family, never see or don’t know our neighbors, and increasingly, in sociologist Robert Putnam’s famous phrase, find ourselves “bowling alone.” In a society where so many of us ride in our own cars, live in gated communities, and come home at the end of a long commuting and working day without the energy to even attend a PTA meeting, perhaps the chance to click onto our favorite Web site and give money to someone who is suffering, even if doing so to the ebay or Amazon.com “community,” makes us feel a bit more connected to the human family.
To the extent that our generosity to unseen others reflects our need for human connection and community, the events of the last few weeks may offer an important insight on how we live our lives and what we want them to become. If that is true, perhaps we should turn more attention to coming closer together with those who share our homes and communities. This need not negate the generous spirit that characterizes how we view those in need around the world. We will, hopefully, always be there for strangers. But it might just free us to reexamine the way we live our lives and enable us to be there for those closer to home. If that happens, the millions we have helped abroad may have given us an equally generous gift in return.
posted by Responsible Leader @ 4:08 AM
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