I spend alot of time every day to try to connect with a community of small business people. This is happens through a variety of methods like the cell phone, email, IM, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and You Tube. I work hard to make up for the fact that most of these people are spread all over the world and many I will never meet IRL (in real life).
This is strange juxstaposed to the fact that a few weeks back, a 50 year old guy who lives right next to my house died. The landlord found his body weeks after he had died alone. The police sealed the house.
I don’t call him my neighbor because although I had seen him a few times, I never met him or knew his name. We weren’t neighbors in the sense of the small town neighbors or even in the big city same block neighbors. We physically lived next to each other and that was all.
It made me think. We spend so much time connecting with people electronically to build relationships with people we may never meet. This is a good thing. But it is also a sad thing that with the person next door to me, I never did the same thing and reached out to meet him or get to know him. I knew him less than the people I follow on Twitter or Friend on Facebook. I don’t even know his name now.
We need to remember, that social media relationships do not replace the ones in your neighborhood or community. It’s time to get up from that chair, put down that PDA and go meet your neighbors IRL today. You will be glad you did.
I finally got liltaiiby insurance this year but only because it was required with my new studio lease! I’m glad to have it, though. Did you hear the story of Seibei? His van was stolen with all of his inventory right before Renegade Craft Fair Los Angeles. He regrouped and went through Kickstarter to fund his business again almost from the ground up! Having my inventory stolen before my show would be my biggest nightmare and what do you do there is no backup plan for that!