I have to say that, with all the great advances in technology that now allow us to stay in touch, stay connected, holds hands across the world and t(w)itter over each other’s MyFaceSpaceBookBlogs, I can still experience a touch of loneliness and disconnection.

I like to have brunch with my gals, catch up face-to-face with my friends; hug and touch and laugh and snort aloud in spectacularly unattractive ways in public with the family members I actually like.

Now, it’s all done by 140-character blog-bites, where your nearest and dearest, and those far away from you geographically but close to your heart, post a quick update of what they’re up to and you participate in their world voyeuristically.

It’s all a bit peep-show-ish…you get little snippets of people’s lives…

I am beginning to feel like a modern-day Telegram delivery person. Everything is short, sometimes witty and almost always to the point.

Miranda is getting her Chihuahua polished and having a latte with Alexander Downer (STOP).

Jane is cooking Coq au Vin whilst reading Madame Bovary and juggling whippets (STOP).

James is having lunch with the only people in his generation who don’t play World of Warcraft non-stop (STOP).

All our time-saving devices have taken over our lives and led to us cramming waaaaaaaay too much in, leaving little or no time for genuine interpersonal connection.

Call me old-fashioned, call me a nay-sayer, call me ANYTIME…I really AM waiting for your call !!!

Last weekend, I had a quiet day, where I hid under my doona for protection from the cold, cruel world, my bills, my housework, my mother and myself. I was going to call some friends but I knew, from following their crazy lives on FaceBook and Twitter, that they were all busy rushing about like loonies, feeling overstretched and exhausted.

Having spoken to several of them since, they would have welcomed an excuse to rush pop ‘round for an afternoon of comforting cups of tea and genuine conversation, while the housework continued to pile up, the dog continued to eat the freshly-laundered mismatched socks from the giant magic basket that never seems to empty (no matter how often they do the laundry).

I think it’s probably time we acknowledged that all our new technology CAN be terribly helpful, but that the most important thing in the world, as the Bible AND The Beatles say, is still love.

This month, try and put aside your FaceBooking, your Twittering, your World of Warcraft or any and all First Person Role Playing / First Person Shooter / Disgruntled Postal Worker games and actually phone or meet up with someone you haven’t seen for a while.

They may be relieved to emerge from their fog of online bill paying / dating / banking / blogging, to put aside or switch off (sacre bleu ?!?!?!) their CrackBerry, iPhone, iPod, iPad, etc, to be touched, laugh and have a cup of tea with someone who snorts unattractively loudly in public.

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