Maybe I’m alone.

Maybe I’m the only one who feels awkward and inadequate, at times.

I mean, it could be just me.

My world is so big. And that makes me smile.

Over the past many years (I’ve been hanging out online since the mid-eighties), I’ve had the good fortune to meet and forge relationships with so many wonderful people. I’ve met some of them in person, some I have not. But I’ve have spent hours on end ‘talking’ and ‘listening’ to them online. Some are among the friends I admire the most.

I’ve read what many of you have written about how online friendships are real. And about how much camaraderie you feel toward these friends – how much support you get and give.

I feel those things, too.

Deeply.

And yet, it feels so intrusive sometimes to know the really personal, the gut-wrenching, the traumatic goings on. I see it on my screen. I ache for them. I care. I really care. But were those messages and posts put out there for me to read? Or are they there for others – who are closer or more connected?

But I feel so unsure sometimes. Should I comment? Is it creepy or kind?

Do my comments read as sincerely as I mean them?

I’m so confident and secure in so many aspects of my life.

But sometimes, I just feel awkward. Like an outsider who is peering, and maybe even inserting myself, into people’s personal lives.