Absence - Awaken.

Lesson Two of what I had learned that summer - That it was lonely watching movies alone. Comedy routines ring hollow when seen alone. Horror dramas were exponentially more unsettling by night, when viewed by a laptop screen's glow. Either way, it wasn't very fun. The real enjoyment of experiencing things was doing them with others. A wise friend once instilled in me the truth that "It is not all about what you do, as much as who you do it with." Whether it was going on supply runs, playing ultimate Frisbee, or going out to eat, it was the people and their reactions and replies that made moments memorable. The Internet was predicated on the assumption to inform and serve people, but more often, people invested their lives into a virtual world. I went to bed disgusted one night, exhausted from a FlameWar which I had striven to end peacefully.

Brad Paisley had a song entitled "Online," satirizing the anonymity of those involved in in virtual lives. "I am sci-fi fanatic, a mild asthmatic, I've never even been to LA. Til I got the chance with the marching band to play tuba in the Rose Parade... When you got my kinda stats, its hard to get a date, let alone a real girlfriend. But I lose a lot of weight and gain another foot everytime I log in!"

How truth becomes distorted through firewalls, personas, and cleverness. "I am important, look at my work! I am smart, beautiful, witty, and loaded. Praise me, tell me that I matter in the millions. My off-line life is not as measurable - there are no achievements, medals, or honors that pop in the corner of my vision."

Pity, so tempting. But the real world of color and life is so much more, the rewards are more subtle but longer lasting. There are my friends and family who love me dearly - despite, and sometimes because of, my faults. So, with the minor trials and temptations, the quiet victories over them, the tedious training of discernment and self discipline. I embrace today with all it will bring. Good day!

"Good Morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.
"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
"All of them at once," said Bilbo. "And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain. ...
"Good morning!" he said at last. "We don't want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water." By this he meant that the conversation was at an end.
"What a lot of things you do use Good morning for!" said Gandalf. "Now you mean that you want to get rid of me, and that it won't be good till I move off." - The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien.