Friendster & the Plethora of Entities

It's past midnight, and instead of hitting the sack I decided to skip it for a bit and having some quality - leisure time with ... Friendster. As some of you might've known, it became a world-wide phenomenon as it attracts lots of attention from internet users to sign up and be part of the 'virtual community'.

As I glance at the photos of people who are branded as "my friends" that appear in the form of tiny icons in my computer screen, I started to wonder. These hundreds of people... those people I know well, those I don't know so well, and those I barely even know. Despite the difference in the sense of level of friendship, they've got one thing in common: each of them has their own (unique) story of life. Not only the stories are peculiar, but also for some cases; extraordinary.

I remember a colleague of mine said, "You don't know what a person has been up to until you get into a real conversation. Most of the people I knew have very interesting stories of their lives, and they've been doing a lot of things, visiting a lot of places in the world". It was Garred, an American woman who currently works with the UN in Paris and been living there since the past 13 years.

In a nutshell one may regard this as: "Been there, done that..."

Then I looked back, have I been in enough "real" conversation that allow me to penetrate into the soul of a person to learn about their life journeys; rise and fall?

I sometimes like to symbolize life as a "movie", and I believe that all of us are the star of our own "movie", as such. People coming and going; some become good friends, then another time turns out to be enemies, and vice versa. We can be the "best supporting actress" in someone else's "movie", yet we can merely be an "extra" in their movies. Our roles really depends on how much we have touched upon one's life.

So, the next time you see someone on the street or someone whose (im)patiently waiting for the elevator, don't assume that he/she is merely an ordinary being. If you let yourself see beyond the 'social mask' and dissolve in their story of life, I'm sure you'll be blown away!

I guess we'll never know what tomorrow's got in store for us, yet if we maintain our positivity, we'll approach our upcoming days filled with daily miracles and exhilaration. As we are now giving the gift of the 'present' by God, let's just enjoy the ride and walk in the scenario God had written for each and every one of us.

(I'd like to dedicate this piece to Anouska; a dear friend of mine who brought about another dimension of sincere friendship into my life. I've had great times with her in Wageningen, Arnhem, Leiden, and even Paris! Hopefully our friendship will endure. As so you know; she's been one of my "best supporting actress" during my life time spent in Holland!)