Stackin’ Rocks or How Twitter Changed my Life by John Ross Barnes

I come from a family mad about hats. No wait, that’s a different story.

I come from a family of rock stackers. I’m not sure that any of us really knows why. I know what it feels like, in my mind and in my hands. It’s a symbol, an attempt to convey some meaning. It is a tactile, tangible way to put some basic order to the chaos. It’s got balance or it will not stand. It’s got history going back to our most ancient human beginnings. It touches some part of us that we strive to share, and we start doing it when we are but tiny little things. Eventually we find a different way to stack rocks. We write.

I thought I was coming to writing mid way through my life. On further reflection, that isn’t really true.

I wrote and illustrated my first story book when I was ten. It was called The Adventures of Mark Wentworth. It was hand written in black india ink with a plastic quill and it was pretty splotchy. I once wrote a poem which caused James Lee Burke to change his lesson plan to read out loud just one poem from his English 101 class at Wichita State.

And then I stopped for about thirty years. No excuses, I was busy doing other stuff that led me to a point a few years ago when I was aimlessly surfing the net. And then… and then it began again.

It began as most things do, with Life, the Universe and Everything. That was the search term I Googled, just on a lark, and because I always loved The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Most of the hits were to religious sites. Blah, not it. But there, about half way down the page was a link to a blog. Mary’s blog: Life the Universe and Everything. How could I resist. I went. I saw. I read. Eventually I commented on a posting. She responded back! Whoa, this internet thing was getting real! Mary was helpful, kind and encouraging. I will always owe her for that.

One thing naturally led to another and another and, well you know how it goes. I made my own blog. From blogs to Twitter or the reverse seems natural progression of course. But something happened that I really would never have hoped for: I made friends. These friends were and are mostly writers. At some point, a year or so back, I stumbled across Johanna Harness and #Amwriting. Again, I commented. I think I apologized for bothering her. I wrote that although I wasn’t a “real” writer, only writing my little blog I understood something she had written and wanted to let her know. I’m shy that way, or at least I was.

I was very fortunate that day to have stumbled onto Johanna and Amwriting. We all know how supportive Johanna is. Again I had stumbled onto precisely the right person to encourage me further. She responded to my self deprecating Tweet to say that writing a blog IS being a real writer, and I should do more.

I did. I have. And now here I am, babbling as I do, knowing that there is a point, if I can just glean it from the chaff of my wandering mind.

The point is this: Even if you are a major introvert, with not much more than a fervent desire to know and be known, the internet in general and Twitter specifically, can be a place of near miracles. No, really. I have seen, read of and personally experienced so much, including things like synchronicity and synergy of ideas. Perhaps it’s not miraculous on a Biblical scale, but close enough to keep me coming back for more. For some of us, finding that much connection, support and friendship can seem like a miracle. What, You don’t believe me about synchronicity and synergy?! Fine, here are just a couple of quick examples:

Remember Egypt? Remember the Japan tsunami, the Alabama and Joplin tornadoes? In each of those cases the effect of people communicating and coordinating together on Twitter yielded a whole of occurrence much bigger than the sum of all those people acting independently. Synergy. Also Gestalt, I think.

What about synchronicity? Ok, the other day I was thinking about all the people I have to thank for getting even this far with this still fledgling writing adventure. I thought Mary and Beck and Johanna. Kerry, Kristina, Jacquelyn, Bill, and Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice. Yup, That Bob&Carol&Ted&Alice. Ok, not really those last four but it I couldn’t resist. It’s been so long and I was so young when that movie came out that I had to check to make sure I had the names right. So, I Google it.  As you can see from the link, The New York Times had just that very day posted a summary and review of that same thirty something year old movie. The one that had just popped into my head. Perhaps a stretch to call that synchronicity, but I think it counts.

If you think very long I’m sure you can think of even bigger more impressive words to describe the oh-so-helpful nature of the net in general and Twitter specifically.

I think this doubly true for writers of any ilk: Twitter can open up vast landscapes of connections. It can help you change your life for the better, or perhaps even someone else’s.

Has Twitter changed your life any? Allowed you to help someone else change theirs?