Social Media Can Be Good

Social Media Can Be Good

A lot of times social media gets a bad wrap, as well it should, it wastes time, causes conflicts, and perpetuates untruths….among many, many of its other vices.

BUT, there is a lot of good that can come from learning, sharing, and the connections made on that magical playing field that we call the world wide web. The following is one of the good stroies:

Almost 2 decades ago Elizabeth (my sister-in-law and partner here on Simple Simon and Company…remember…two girls, same name, same number of kids, both school teachers, etc.) started a blog about sewing, thrifting, and the art of homemaking.

Oh how we loved the blog…and creating things…and raising our families.

In the beginning we had only two loyal followers…Elizabeth’s sister and my brother…but, as we created and posted and photographed and shared our little blog grew.

Soon Elizabeth and I began attending blog conferences where we met other like minded women. We exchanged information and ideas with these women and although we would only see each other in person a handful of times these women would become a fierce group of friends who we have turned to time and time again for love, support, and strength.

Aside from being talented and fearless small business owners these women are smart, clever, resourceful as well as kind, thoughtful, and powerful.

They are girls girls…women who support women.

They see a need and assemble.

Once one of our group rushed to the hospital with a family member and in the hurry ended up there at the hospital (for what looked like it would be an extended period of time) without a bra!

When one of our group (who lived on the other side of the country) heard this she Amazon rush delivered her a bra right to the hospital.

Like I said…girls girls. Women supporting women.

How lucky I am to know women like this…..because the amazing thing is that I have a million more stories like this…some similar…more serious…all heartwarming.

Today, however, I have a particular story that I would like to tell.

Almost a decade ago my mom suffered a catastrophic stroke during a brain surgery. She lived in the ICU for more than 3 months. We were told that odds for survival were slim and that she may not ever wake up from her coma.

During that time period I was at the hospital at some point every single day…for updates, to be there when tubes and/or oxygen was removed, for physical therapy, for speech therapy, for occupational therapy, etc. etc. etc.

I had young children and the hospital was 45 minutes away. I was brokenhearted and exhausted. One afternoon I received a text. One of the bloggers from our little online group was there at the hospital. Could I meet her in the lobby?

In the lobby I found my internet friend with a basket full of things like blankets, snacks, and magazines to keep me warm and feed during the long hours I was spending at the hospital…all put together by a group of blogging friends…some of which I had never met in person. And it wasn’t just the basket. This friend came prepared to spend the afternoon sitting with me in the ICU watching over my mom.

My heart still overflows when I think about that gesture of compassion.

Fast forward almost a decade.

Early one Sunday morning I was holding my moms hand as her spirit left this world. She had never recovered from her stroke. It had been a long, devastating deterioration that was gutting to watch.

Shortly after the funeral I got a note and a venmo….it was the online blogger friends group. They had pooled funds for me to make a tree for Festival of Trees in memory of my mom. Our family, with my mom in the lead, has been making trees (and quilts) for the Festival since the passing of my younger brother more than 40 years ago.

Putting that tree together with my dad, siblings, and son was a sweet experience.

What a sense of peace, calm and joy it brought to my family.

Thank you blogger/internet/virtual…..real friends.

You gave me the gift of time with family to remember and honor my mom.

And have fun in the process.

Without the internet, without social media, without blogging, without the unruly ball of photos and stories and how to’s I would have never met the powerful, caring group of women who have quietly been there with me over the years.

We don’t live close by…most of us don’t even live in the same state…and at times not even in the same country. We have different home lives, religious beliefs and political stances.

But we are all creative women who care about supporting other creative women.

How lucky I am to have clicked my way into that tribe.

This past year, watching the hellscape that is the internet, I felt like it might be time to say goodbye to Simple Simon’s online presence. With the rise of AI combined with hate and anger and well, you know, it can be an ugly place. I wasn’t sure I wanted to share the things I love most…my family, my thoughts, my quilts, my garden, my recipes…in such a toxic space….and I disappeared.

But as I looked back over the years and thought about the friendships…and not just the wonderful group I have written about today…but all the amazing people that we have met while out teaching and speaking and traveling…I began to realize that I wasn’t ready to let go.

Each person that comments and shares. Each person I sew with and trade ideas with. Each person that emails and interacts with us online adds beauty and positivity to my world. And in a world that, to me, feels increasing dark I can use all the light I can get.

Social media can be good. It can be a light. It can be beautiful and helpful and inspirational and honest and build community.

I know it can because it has.

And the goodness is worth keeping and protecting.

With that said…we are back.

-liZ

Here’s to the good however we can share it….even in the midst of a giant burning dumpster fire. 🙂