I had recently met a woman who was a friend of friends, and spent a
few hours with her in dynamic conversation -- she vibrated with
intensity, and was definitely on some sort of Quest with a capital Q.
It was enjoyable and enriching, and I looked forward to running into
her again. So, when I was informed of her funeral a week ago, I was
stunned. Nothing in our conversation led me to think she was
terminally ill, and she was younger than I.
I decided I wanted to contact her family, so I Googled the name of the
woman who'd recently passed on, thinking to find white pages or
genealogy references or something. Instead, I found several newsgroup
postings by her, and it was the strangest and spookiest feeling to
read her conversations as if she were still here. I found out so many
things about her: her interests, her style of writing and thinking,
when she was having good days, bad days, when she needed answers to
questions. Talk about the Ghost in the Machine...
So it occurred to me... This here is the virtual after-life. You
will, I will, we will live on long after we're gone, here in rmd,
chatting back and forth as if in a room full of ghosts. This is our
legacy. These posts may live forever. Except for PR, who has
possibly seen ahead and decided against having any virtual after-life
except when folded into other's replies.
So, write like it will haunt you.
~`~
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