Reach out and tweet someone

I have discovered Twitter and it is glorious. I mean, hundreds, thousands, millions of people sending out random information every minute of every day. It is a dream come true for a gal whose daily universe is her 1300 square foot house, a couple of parks and a dreamy 18 month old. For real.

Blogging has been an enormous help in my endeavors to "get out there," because, as I've mentioned before, I'm so freakin' shy and scared of other mothers, blah blah blah. The internet is so safe, so secure, so friendly. I know that those three things sound like complete bullshit and like I'm a moron, but I'm internet savvy. Super internet savvy, really, so I feel like I got this thing figured out. Remember I met Anthony on MySpace in 2003, after all. Blogging allows me to put myself out there as if I were chatting over coffee with a friend (yep, this blog must be really boring for all my real life friends because it's everything I'd normally say in a "real life" day).

I'm building my blogging relationships (I even got my very first listing in a blog roll from Noelle, a total stranger who does Baby in Broad - that was a great day when I noticed that!!) and I'm slowly, but surely developing a style and a theme. Enter Twitter.

I actually heard it first from my friend, Lax. We had been talking about the power of social media and who really liked it (of course, I love it) and who didn't (my friend, Shad, has stuck by his guns of preferring face-to-face interactions, for example). I had started with Friendster, then graduated to MySpace and had just recently discovered Facebook when Lax told me about Twitter. I was so happy with what I already had going I decided to not look into it too closely.

Then, my favorite morning show (JB & Sandy) had Lance Armstrong yakking away with them and he kept saying, "I tweeted this," and "I went to my Twitter that," and I got more interested. Lance Armstrong is tweeting??

So, about a month ago, I got an account and stepped into this new, uncharted world of social interaction and I'm hooked. It actually replaced my solitaire last night. WTF? And then I got shut out because my iPhone Twitter app (Twitter Fon) won't allow more than 100 requests in an hour. A hundred? In an hour? I really am starved for interaction!

I've been sick the past couple of days and haven't had the energy to blog, but I've been tweeting and it's fascinating to me how much it helps me feel connected. That sounds like a big, dumb, "DUH" thing to say since its whole reason is to connect people. Well, I guess I can attest that it's working.

Staying at home to raise children is such a precious thing. I feel spectacularly lucky that a) I want to do it, deep down in my bones, b) we can financially support it, and c) I'm having relative success in this traditional role. However, with this traditional role comes traditional isolation. In these new life and times of the internet I can throw open my shutters and let the sun shine in and still give all that I have to give to my son AND still stay connected, open, and honest with the world.

If you're not already on Twitter, join. It's easy, fun, and really an experiment in a new way of interacting (follow me @tisworthwhile). If you read my blog, comment. It's like getting an unexpected present and it makes my day.

Today is beeyootiful in Austin and I'm feeling a smidgen better. It's a damned good day.