Websites – Appreciation Magic

In what ways do you communicate online?

Although I would rather communicate with people in person, online communication fills a big space in my life. Today’s writing prompt asks about the ways we communicate online. I have used various methods of communication online.

The oldest way was email. I don’t use it as much now as in the past, but it’s still a part of my communication methods. The most frequent way I communicate online is through social media outlets. I belong to some Facebook groups and I’m very active on Twitter. I also use Instagram and very minimally Snapchat. The Facebook groups have been particularly useful, and I created one for our last high school reunion. They’ve also been a wonderful way to connect with others with similar interests. I also have a YouTube channel, but I haven’t done any videos for a long while. I do, however, watch others and will join broadcasts and comment and interact with them at times.

During the pandemic, video chat became a huge part of my life. Zoom made a household name for itself and I took advantage of that time at home to gather up several girlfriends from my hometown to communicate with each other weekly. It was so beautiful to catch up with them as some I hadn’t heard from in years. Most of them I’ve known since kindergarten and I appreciate those times a lot.

Writing online has also been a method of communication for me. I’ve always loved to write and so blogging became a way to express my thoughts years ago. I also had a couple of websites.

I appreciate all of these modes of communication for connecting people, spreading my voice and to learning from others.

I appreciate websites that work! I’ve had my main website off-line for some months and got some help from my host a few weeks back but some items are still not working. My pages (albeit 1) keep giving me the error page.

While I could get help for this again, I’ve been busy with other things so I will fix it when I make time for it. I appreciate that I can relax in the knowing that it will work out in the end.

This unwanted contrast really makes me appreciate websites that work, like this appreciation blog! This free blog has always been rock steady – always there, always working. I appreciate the ease and flow of these free services. I appreciate wordpress dot com for its ease in making a blog or website and I appreciate that I can easily change the look of this site and it all works.

When we run into things we don’t like or want, it’s always an opportunity to appreciate what is working or on what we already have. Technology does make our lives easier in so many ways! Computers, cell phones and social media have added many things to our lives to appreciate.

BUT, writing this quick post has caused me to reflect on the number of times I complain about my computer at work: it’s slow in booting up, it crashes often and forces me to re-start, or a program just freezes. There are a lot of glitches. And I’m not alone, as others in my office complain of similar problems.

What can I appreciate about all of this? For starters, we’ve gotten to know the cool people in our IT department over the years and they’ve gotten away from their desks and traveled to ours. – Stepping away from your desk is a healthy thing. 🙂 – Every staff member in my office can rally together in the collective desire for an improved efficiency of computers. That’s a lot of energy for an improved system just waiting for us to align to. We get opportunities to share our appreciation of the IT staff when they “fix” the problems, too. Collective appreciation makes everyone feel good! When the computers are “down,” we have opportunities to engage with one another, make a phone call and reach out to someone, step away from our desks, and take a break from looking at the computer screen all day. I can appreciate those moments for that.

So in the spirit of appreciating websites that work, I also am appreciating all that unwanted contrast at work because I also realize how much of what I have at home works like a charm: every time! I have 2 computers, one that is older but still works and a laptop that is fast, efficient, cool and fun. I so appreciate that. I appreciate the fact they are mine. There are people who don’t have computers so I don’t take that for granted.

So the next time I find myself complaining about the lack of speed of my computer at work, I will remember this post and it surely will make me smile as I remember that unwanted contrast is just an opportunity to appreciate what is working. And there’s a lot in my life that works: even if I can’t get to all the pages of my main website yet!