The Age of Communication??

I was sitting here tonight writing in my journal, when it occurred to me: I spend quite a bit more time journaling (and 'blogging' for that matter) than I did a few years ago, when I was still in college, for instance. I don't think it is because I am any less busy. I continue to move at a pace that typically only allows for 15 minute stops at home between work and whatever evening activity beckons. And I don't think it is a sense of loneliness - I spend most of my day with people. But I do think it has something to do with a lack of proximity of my really close friends - the ones that I would be processing my thoughts and feelings with, instead of with pen and paper.

In grad school, I remember hanging out for hours at Cafe Kopi with two of my best friends. It was our favorite coffee shop, and no matter how much was going on in our lives, we carved out time to sit around those wooden tables to talk, laugh, and share life. My best friends currently live between 1,000 and 2,000 miles away, and that makes coffee at Cafe Kopi quite a challenge.

In college, it seemed that hanging out with friends was not something you had to schedule in advance. These days, I find myself trying for weeks to meet up with a friend for dinner or an after work walk. And that seems sad. I wonder why we can't be more available. And I wonder if this is a sign of the life stage I am in now, or if it has something to do with the digital age - the "age of communication." How ironic, that in the age of communication, I am spending more time typing on my computer, and less time with a cup of coffee at Cafe Kopi.