There’s  nothing like reuniting with a cherished friend. You rehash old stories and share new ones. Laugh, hug and feel a sort of relief to be together again.

Last spring one of my best friends from St. Louis came to visit me. We gave each other a handshake, exchanged pleasantries, and then sat on my patio to chat and watch the birds.

“Did I tell you about dressing up as Elvis for the St. Patricks Day parade?”  I asked.

“Yeah,” he smiled. “Well kind of, I read about it on MySpace.”

“Oh.”

We listened to the cardinals and sparrows.

“Did I tell you my wife got a new job?”

“You posted an update on Facebook.”

“Ah.”

I picked some wax from my ear. Flicked it in the yard.

“What about Ragbrai?”

“Saw it on Youtube.”

I was going to ask him how his dad was doing, but he’d already blogged about the old man’s cancer recovery.

We watched the sky grow overcast.

“Want to see a movie?”

“Sure.”

It was that day I realized, the more connected we are, the less connected we become.  That we can be so tuned in and accessible, that we can lose the joys that make us human.

Of course this is not true in all cases. There are many people who get a lot out of social networking sites. But for me and many others, this digital world is detrimental to our interpersonal skills and the genuine quality of our friendships. It’s not just simple emails or blogs, its the constant updates of every minute detail throughout the day.

We can share so much, that we have nothing more to share…

Is it time to tune in, turn on and sign out?

I’ll continue the email. I’ll continue blogging. But there is a freedom that comes with Signing Out from the daily barrage.

Maybe by disconnecting, we can reconnect in ways that require us to be more human.