Connecting with Others

I’m a bit of a statistics nerd. Each month, when I receive my (Wix) website report, the graphic I most like viewing is the one identifying how my website has been connecting with others on a global scale. Look at the image for the months of February to April … It is extraordinary (to me) that my books are of interest far and wide even to non-English speaking countries. It gives me a thrill that the story of my Italian parents is out there, and that people have enough interest to find out more.

Isn’t that what connecting with others is about? Finding out more and seeing if we share some common interests? I’m so delighted that my books have messages that resonate. With the recent challenges we have been facing, COVID especially has forced us to limit our ‘physical’ journeys and for some, this has made us become insular. It is so essential to keep connecting with others though so that we keep broadening our horizons and developing our knowledge. There are, of course, mental health implications in all of this as insularity can make us questions ourselves and sabotage our self-confidence.

It’s not surprising that one of the website statistics shows that 36% of people who ‘visited’ my website are in Australia. What was interesting was that 23% were from the US and 13% from the UK. The balance of these was from Africa and then a small percentage from other countries around the world … the breadth of this ‘stretch’ takes my breath away. Woohoo!

But, this is then, where it gets really cool. Not only was I (my website) visited but, people signed up to my eNewsletter, and one person, in London (UK) actually sent me a message (through the website contact page). It turns out that Giovanna is a distant relative—on my father’s side—a second or third cousin … we’re still trying to get our heads around it. Isn’t the world small?!

Connecting with others then takes on a whole new level; I have family out there that had lost touch many years ago and through writing about my personal history they have been able to track me down through the ‘worldwide web’ and make contact. Of course, COVID has put on the brakes for us to meet each other in person, at present, but who knows what the future holds? I must say that when it comes to social media, I struggle to keep up with the recommended number of posts. All the same, these unexpected ‘connecting with others’ messages that have been occurring of late—the extraordinary contact by Jane Kelsall just a few months back that I wrote about—and now a family member, certainly makes the effort all worthwhile.

I hope you all keep connecting with others even if it is just on a small scale. We need to keep in touch and value the good times. Each day should be a celebration, as we have a lot to be grateful for if we value even just the smallest things in life.