Hands off my virtual flowers!

P and I have been living away from close family and friends for more than a year now.  Though it's been an inspiring year of making new friends and having the opportunity to spend stints of time with visiting friends, at times feelings of loneliness, and even guilt, creep in.  As cheesy as it sounds, one of the tools that has helped me feel at least marginally connected is good ol' Facebook. 

Over the last year, Mr. P and I have spent a lot of time evaluating the true worth of social networking tools, both professionally and personally.  We've both taken a step back from our Twitter obsession, and even stopped updating social network sites that function as virtual stairs to nowhere.  I will admit that I contemplated using the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine on Facebook, but then saw a charming status update from an old high school friend and thought better of it.  Today, however, my finger is back on the trigger.  Why? 

First, a little Melanie background.  I have practiced yoga for more than 11 years consistently in hopes of gaining a semblance of inner peace.  I run several times each week to alleviate nervous energy and anxiety.  I do not need my social networking tools sending little notes to my email inbox to make me feel guilty.  What was the message?  Check this out:  "One of your Facebook friends has just watered your garden flowers because they were almost dead."  Are you freaking kidding me?  I can barely keep up with calls to my mother, let alone, water some virtual garden that I didn't even know I had.  Now, not only am I supposed to feel guilty for killing my flowers, but also embarrassed that some poor friend had to step over my virtual fence, dragging their virtual water hose behind them, to keep my poor, raggedy-ass virtual flowers from dying. 

So, if you are the friend that saved my virtual flowers, I guess I owe you a virtual drink.  I'm pretty sure there is a tool that allows me to send one your way.