Found between the binding, in these modern times, we find ourselves forming deeper and more meaningful relationships over social media. Many will say that COVID has changed this, but I disagree. My belief is COVID just highlighted what already existed and made it more acceptable and less fearful for those who are not as social.
For instance, no one thought a thing if you went out on Friday night and met a new friend or started to date someone after a night out drinking on the town. Never questioning how you know this person or why you are attached to them. But try to tell them you met them on a social media platform, and they look at you like you are crazy.
I have found that some of the bonds I have made on social media are stronger, more meaningful, and by far more knowledgeable than bonds I have formed in real life. See, on a social media platform, you can’t make an assumption about someone based on their physical aspects, because it’s just a picture or video that you are seeing. You have to take your time and genuinely get to know the person. It doesn’t matter if filters are involved or if they hide something about themselves. Because spending quality time with a person, their true self will show.
Too often, we only judge a book by its cover when the truth lies within the pages. Social media makes you not only see the cover but read the pages, and quickly you will see if the cover is fiction or nonfiction.
I myself have a thick binding, my cover is tattered and old, but if you started reading my pages, you would see the true me. I have bent pages to mark stories that have changed and formed the core of my life story. From page one to the end of my pages, you will not see much change other than slight variations.
I am blessed that those I have met on these platforms have taken the time to read my chapters and allowed me to get past their bindings. It is not easy to allow someone to see all of your story, to be an open book for them to read. Social media has slowed the form of instant bond down to a turtle pace and allowed people to get to know each other from the inside out, therefore forming deeper and more meaningful bonds.
I have never been one to assume that because your outside is beautiful means your inside matches. The general thought is you must have a physical attraction to start a bond with another person. Well, that has changed. Now it’s my bond with you is so deep that nothing physical will change my opinion because I have seen the beauty of your mind and heart. Some people can hide their heart and their true mindset for just a little while. But in the midst of looking at their binding, they are tearing out pages of whom they truly are. I have taken time to read the chapters of people I care about long before ever seeing the physical aspect of them, making my bonds with them extremely tight. The binding and cover never meaning a thing to me because I have read pages that have captivated my heart and mind.
I truly feel it has forced us to slow down, get to know a person, and choose if this is someone in which we value to share time with. I have been blessed enough to find a few first editions that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I have a first edition that was hidden so far back on the shelf it would have never been seen without modern technology. I have turned page after page and found that there are so many blank pages at the end to still be written in all these books, mine included.
Dedicated to those who think you can’t form a bond without physical presence.
Comments