Sen and the Beauty of Social Media

Today I had an opportunity to highlight the "social" experience of "social media." About a year ago, Anne first entered my network via Twitter. She was a constant source of interesting world news, artistic and intellectual referrals, and lighthearted humor. Finding we had many common interests and experiences, not the least of which are our international travels and expat lifestyles (she a German in Belgium, me an American in Germany) we decided it would be fun to meet in person.

She had an appointment today in Aachen, which is a convenient direct train trip for me, so we met up for coffee and then dinner. At coffee, she brought along another friend, with whom it turned out I have common friends here in the Ruhr area! Such a small world - what is the expression "Six degrees of separation?"

Dinner was a quaint little Vietnamese restaurant called Sen (where, coincidentally, Anne ran into another acquaintance!).

What a lovely thing social media can be - especially when we put away the computers and meet face-to-face for real conversations and human connections.

"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there."
~Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values