The Global Village

While I was up late (for me) last night after a nightmare from the big boy, I turned to twitter to relax my mind. I would've turned to a book I've been dying to read, but after 10.5 hour days hubby was fast asleep. I didn't dare turn on my light lest I wake him up from what looked to be peaceful slumber. I know he wouldn't have minded, but I would have felt terrible. So there I was, reading  by the dull glow of my old iPhone, refreshing my feed. I came to two realisations last night about twitter, and in turn the global village that I've become a part of via social media.

One, I really don't care for Twilight. There was a twitter party going on for the red carpet premiere of what I believe is the final movie (Thank God). I have high standards for books. I get that. As my friend over at Wiccan to Catholic pointed out quite astutely, Vampires are meant to be a cautionary tale about the emptiness and darkness of a life where we choose to seek out eternal life without God. That is a terrible, broken, half-life in the early tales of Dracula. So when I read about sparkly vampires falling in love and making babies, my eye starts twitching.

Anyway, for the few of you still reading after my not so mini Twilight rant, I learned something else WAY better about twitter, and social media in general last night. Twitter is my village. When our Great-Grandmothers were having babies, they use to gather around their tables for tea, or knitting circles, or kitchen parties (can you tell I'm a Nova Scotian that these are the three things I picked?) and talk about everything going on in their families. They're share tips, advice, or simply nod sagely when they were in the same boat. That's not so different from what we're doing through social media. Be it through our FB group or on our Twitter feeds, many of us are seeking out the companionship our modern cities and lifestyles deny us. The great bonus of it all is that in the whole world of social media, there's at least one other Mom who is experiencing the exact same problem as you. I've found homeschooling Mamas, Moms kept up all night by newborns (#zombiemoms), Moms who love to cloth diaper, Moms with lots of kids, Moms of Faith, Moms who challenge me, Moms who entertain me, Moms who inspire me. I can't find that in any one Mom in my own town (though I have a few that meet all those qualifications together), but the fact is that when the lights go out and they're all in bed, sometimes I still need community so I'm not battling through parenthood alone.

If it takes a village to raise a child, my village is here in my own city, but also all across the world, as part of the global village. If you take a few days to speak to Moms across the world, you'll see that motherhood is as universal as it is unique, and that there's always something to be learned from the friend waiting on the other side of 140 characters.