Beyond the Screen

Tonight was one of those nights that reminded me of one of the very best things about this sometimes weird, wonderful, completely ridiculous online world.

I spent the evening with a friend I originally met on EP and have known for well over a decade. We shared a delicious dinner, great wine, hours of conversation, and then wandered off to a speakeasy for cocktails because apparently we had not yet solved all the problems of the universe. 😄

And I came home feeling really, really grateful.

Because somewhere along the way, some of the people I met behind usernames and profile pictures became real friends.

Friends whose faces I know. Whose voices I know. People I’ve hugged and laughed with and sat across a table from. People who have stepped out from behind the screen and become part of my actual life.

There’s something kind of extraordinary about that.

EP was a strange little corner of the internet. SW can certainly be its own special brand of crazy. 😄 But both have brought people into my life I never would have met otherwise, and some of those friendships have lasted years and years.

Tonight was a beautiful reminder that the internet may be where a friendship begins, but it doesn’t always have to be where it stays.

Sometimes the person behind the username becomes someone sitting across from you over dinner. Sometimes the messages become conversation and laughter over wine. Sometimes you get to know the human being on the other side of the screen.

And sometimes you look around at the very real friendships that grew from this very unreal place and think: Damn, I’m lucky. :) 💛