So it has arrived

And by 'it' I mean the looming Senior Sem paper. You hear about this infamous paper all your years and how horrible and long it is. All about the blood sweat and tears that are pored into this paper.

So here I am. In the coffee shop with my research up and word document open. part one of my paper is due tomorrow. I have a page of 5-7 written.

Given the topic of my senior sem paper is social networking and its effects on relationships I am inevitably prompted to think about how I feel about social networking in my own life. As I have been reading countless journal articles about the topic I have found that people generally use these sites to keep in contact with already existing friends. I recognize the convenience of facebook, and skype, and things like this, a blog. However, I begin to wonder when the value of friendship diminished to where it needs to be convenient. I am not saying I am above this thinking, in fact, I think I am very much a product of my generation and I am not sure I like it. I ponder what life would be like if I took text messaging off my phone and got rid of my facebook, would people still take time to contact me? Would I take time to contact other people?

I would like to think that I would still make the effort to call, visit, write some snail mail etc. in order to keep in touch, but I am not completely confident I would.

How do we balance living in a world with these things that make life convenient with making sure the people we love feel that love and not just a 'when it's convenient' kind of love?

With love from the Cornerstone coffee shop,

Whitney