Who's In Your (Remote) Tribe?

Who’s in Your (Remote) Tribe?

7 months. It has been 7 months since this journey has begun, talking about tribes and moments, and advocating for more joy. We have shared stories of thankfulness, resolutions, my son (he says he doesn’t like those stories, but I kind of think he does). After dozens of articles and hundreds of messages from you all, I would like to take a moment and revisit the idea that started this little foray. Who’s in your tribe?

To quickly summarize our original article, I am looking for a tribe of people who are sick of all the down, negative, polarizing news out there and wish to seek happy, upbeat stories, even if only for a few moments every week from their local paper. Tribes are all around us. We have professional networks or tribes, personal, spiritual, social, etc. The question this week is, who’s in your remote tribe? That is to say, who is out there that you have a strong connection with that you may only communicate with in ways other than face-to-face? Please allow a brief example.

I have a dear friend named James. James lives in Louisville, KY and owns a hardwood flooring business. We have laughed and a great many things, shared our lives adventures with each other, celebrated things such as birthdays, anniversaries, life coming and life leaving this place and we have done it all remotely. Our spouses probably don’t quite understand the friendship we have, seeing as James and I have never met in person. We are digital friends. We met 6 years ago playing a silly phone app game. I know how this sounds. But friends come in all shapes and sizes. Friendship is where people you need and who need you at this stage of life reside. I’ve never met James or shaken his hand, but he and his family are in my tribe. We have laughed and shared each other’s triumphs and shared tears over each other’s losses.

Do you have anyone in your life that is remote? I have a great many college friends who have scattered all around the state and country and we still communicate, laugh, poke fun at each other all remotely via various forms of social media. The slight anonymity social media gives us is also the thing that makes it comfortable to communicate with people we may have lost touch with or only know at a distance. I just celebrated a birthday last week and more and more I feel like that old man yelling at people to say off my lawn. While I may slowly be turning into that old dude, I never want to be the old man who curses technology. Technology has taken a great deal from us when it comes to interpersonal communication. But it has given us things as well.

This week, I would like to challenge each of you to really think about all the people you stay in touch with via Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and even email. Imagine how empty our lives would be if we only communicated with our tribe’s folk we could see and touch. Technology for all of its sterile insensitivities, has given us a tremendous gift to stay in touch with people all around the world. Expand your tribe to include your remote tribe. I am grateful for all of the remote tribal members I have. As I celebrate another trip around this earth, I raise my glass to all of you. Close and far away. Those I see, call and chat with in the cyberworld. Who is in your tribe? Do you have a James? I am so very grateful that I do!

Steve Gwisdalla is a Dexter resident. He is the owner, Chief Networking Officer, and all-around happy dude running BetterPlace Consulting in Dexter. If you need some help connecting to your remote tribe, reach out to him at steve@betterplacemgmt.com