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Lives of Doctor Wives: Internet Communities to Keep Us Sane?

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Internet Communities to Keep Us Sane?

It is part of our lives that we move around a lot.  Most people get to “settle” down and have a house and raise their children and have a sense of community for years, if not a lifetime.  With our lifestyles, we may move into a house and in 2-4 years find ourselves moving again. 

In the past several years, as the internet has become a place where we have more social networking, I have found that it has also become a place for me to meet and know a community of people that I never have to leave.  I am quickly finding that for me, being on the internet is replacing my phone use.  In years past, I used the phone a lot.  Now, I can just log onto my computer and communicate with people without using the phone at all.

I wonder how many of us, as people who are constantly moving our households, get sanity from the fact that the internet is the one constant that we have?  Does it give you a sense of community that you don’t have to recreate every couple of years? 

I then want us to think about this the next time we are thinking we are addicted to the internet.  Are you really addicted to the internet, or are you just using the internet more and the phone less?

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5 Comments:

Blogger ClosewithKathi said...

You are so dead on! I recently posted on my own blog about the loneliness I feel as a wife who moves around and never has time to cement friendships (http://tinyurl.com/le7kyj if you want a peek). As a result, the person I blogged about contacted me and we have begun a friendship via email. I could go on and on about my friends on twitter, and linkedin, and on this blog, too!

June 14, 2009 at 9:31 PM  
Blogger Amanda said...

Thanks for making me feel better about my "addiction"! ;) I really have connected with a lot of people via the Internet, most importantly the moms I've met in my last two "home" cities. Without the Internet, I would have been very lonely in Ohio as a new mom with no family nearby, and the same would have been true when we moved to our current home. Also, it fills those lonely hours when my hubby's on-call all night!

June 14, 2009 at 9:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I know I have struggled personally with acceptance that I am not on the computer as an addiction, but rather as a form of communication and entertainment with someone other than my boys. I don't go out much and some more of my friends have moved away. I have an opportunity every once in a while to get out, but it is not very often. I do go workout every morning, but I do it alone. I don't really have friends at my workout center, so the time I do have away from the boys is still solitary. At first I felt bad because I knew I was online quite often, but then I started thinking about my internet activities. They are mainly working, FB and blogs. I have met several new people who have a lot in common with me here and on other blogs and I love the fact that I can get to know them and not fear their "moving away." I also love the idea that chances are if we move to a new location, I will most likely already know an acquaintance somewhere close to there...I just have to ask. That's amazing!

June 14, 2009 at 10:27 PM  
Blogger Adriana said...

I agree that the internet has become a great source of support and a great resource. I am amazed at how much the internet has helped to keep our family connected even though we are so many miles apart and don't get to see each other but only a few times a year. SKYPE has been awesome for my kids and our parents have really enjoyed it also. My MIL reads books to the kids over SKYPE and once they even made cookies together (her in her kitchen and me and my daughter in ours). The connection has really allowed them to stay so close to each other and fill the gap that comes from not having family close by.

June 15, 2009 at 8:10 AM  
Blogger Amanda said...

Kind of ironic that one of my favorite webcomics has a strip today related to this very topic: http://xkcd.com/
Mouse over the strip, and you should get a pop-up for more laughs (he does that with all his strips!).

June 15, 2009 at 4:45 PM  

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