Connecting and the letter O

Connecting is the Velvet Ashes theme for this week. 
(I didn't really plan ahead for it but I ended up posting some photos from our time in Chiang Mai years ago. It felt like we had instant real community even though we had never been there before, and were only staying for a few months.) 

Overloaded

Motorbikes in Cambodia comfortably seat two people, but actually carry five and a pig.

We have so many electronic ways to communicate; email, SMS, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If I want to talk to someone overseas I just need to figure out if I want to Skype or use Messenger.

Communication is easy, fast and plentiful but can weigh us down.

Obvious

It’s plain for all to see when I sit and when I rise, they can perceive my thoughts from afar.

They can discern my going out and my lying down; they can be familiar with all my ways.

Obscured

The huge tip of the iceberg can be seen easily, but do we assume the tip is everything?

Despite the bombardment, all the information is filtered, cherry picked, out of context and decorated with sun rays.

A cool day in the tropics is considered a hot day elsewhere. That one is easily measured and joked about, but often the importance of context is invisible.

The abundance of communication can lead to miscommunication, frustrations. We might think we understand but we might be building assumptions around what we can see sticking out of the water.

Omniscient

He knows when I sit and when I rise, he perceives my thoughts from afar.

He discerns my going out and my lying down; he is familiar with all my ways.

decorated with sun rays

See also Context is your friend

and for the flip side Home assignment actually at home