As some of our readers might have noticed, we keep ourselves very concerned with national and international events. We think and write at considerable length about how these events affect our personal lives. Today, I bring you a story from the flipside of that coin.
This weekend, my cable was out, my phone didn’t work and I only turned on the stereo to listen to CD’s. I was completely out of the loop with regard to the inspectors being in Iraq, hijack attempts on planes, and the millions of other news items that may have happened.

It was a great time. The wife and I got up early Saturday and headed to eat a nice long brunch while reading a few magazines and just talking to one another about all kinds of things. Literature, art, and the debate of rap’s effect on popular music were all topics that we covered. We got to know a little more about one another and we made a connection. There was no outside influence, no interruption. We were simply two friends having a leisurely brunch and enjoying the crisp new winter weather.

I tell you all this, not to bore you with my sad personal life, but to point out that sometimes people need that disconnect. We need to turn off the cellphones, not check our email, turn off the TV, and make the human connections that matter more. It’s a sad thing that we should have to make time for these human connections, but it’s an inevitable symptom of our modern world.

Connecting to other people on any level grounds us and gives us a support system that we can rely on. More than that, it makes life pleasant. It adds a great deal of joy and peace into our life. It also serves to make us more open to ideas and experiences that other people may lead us to.

Sure, this morning I came into work and 3 computers had died and 2 new people were starting. The emails were backed up into the hundreds and the voice mail light was blinking a tad faster than normal it seemed. But deep inside, that peace was grounding me and I felt OK with all the stress.