Mentalechoes

Tonight I went to dinner with the work crowd as a celebration cum reward for releasing a major peice of software to the commercial world at the time some big managers project plan said we would (I work in the IT department of a web commerce company). Now while I share the same peice of carpet with these people for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, over dinner I realised that quite a few of them are not people I would want to see outside of work. And some of them, are just downright annoying bastards that I wouldn’t piss on if they were on fire! Well maybe that’s a bit harsh, I would piss on them, but grudgingly!

After I came home from dinner, I logged into World of Warcraft, and took my Paladin - Lunark - out for a run. My friends, who also play WoW, don’t know about my Paladin as we are all meant to be diehard Horde players. I can’t help it though, Lunark is so much fun to play, and tonight he made his first friend.

Which is where I was going with this story in the first place. As I was running around Jasperlode Mine, I came across the path of another Paladin, a woman called Callandra. We teamed up and played the quest out at the mine, and spent a good 45 minutes in each others company chatting all the while. During the time we spent together we went from strangers to friends; sharing laughs, saving each others lives, and enjoying the warmth that comes with hanging out with someone comfortable.

After I said goodbye to Callandra and left the game, it suddenly dawned on me that our concept of friends and strangers is not something based on the reality of our five senses, but on the emotional empathy of our imagination. You see, being able to make some bond with the personality of an individual through a virtual medium (like WoW) is enough for our minds to make an image of a person upon which feelings can be projected.

The irony being, it is entirely possible to sit in a crowded room full of stangers, or sit alone at home and be surrounded by friends.

Padwanna.