The Missing

So called LinkedIn experts talk about "Eight hundred million" accounts on LinkedIn. That number rises. Facebook has billions and no reason to brag about the number. I don't care about the number of potential connections.

Like experienced partiers said to first time visitors to the Playboy mansion: You can't have them all. Relationships are cultivated one at a time even if you happen to meet a few people at a function and exchange information.

The only influencers on this site are no longer here. Some are banned. Others hibernate their accounts and might return. I hibernated my account when there was too much nonsense last fall.

It is amazing how crummy this site can be when I am not writing articles. Even if barely anyone reads these it makes me feel better. After a busy day where I was off the computer and too tired to do anything productive I had a dream of Chandra. It wasn't about a connection I have not met face to face.

It was about her mother. No one is ever prepared to lose a parent. Thich Nhat Hahn who passed last week famously said you are never old enough to prepare for the loss of a parent. It is bad enough to lose a parent to disease or even to old age. A violent death is worse.

Normally dreams are interesting, absurd or comforting. In this dream I thought of a connection's mother who was choked to death. Not by the police although this happened between Eric Garner and George Floyd.

Suffocation has to be the worst way to die. There are articles about this crime and justice was not served since it happened in another country. When someone says "You don't know what someone is going through" it is not rhetoric.

Thinking about the final moments of someone who had more to contribute to the world caused me to wake up abruptly. Chandra is a caring individual. I cannot presume to say I know what she is thinking. I have been on the wrong end of narcissists and some people who exploit the fact I care to take advantage of me and laugh in my face as I jump through hoops for them.

And that was my immediate family. We all have struggles and I reflect more on people who positively impacted me and are no longer on this site than some of the self proclaimed LinkedIn Rock Stars who are really nice if you agree with them and passive aggressive if you question them. Find the best people and care about them. Not to spread some hashtag about "Being kind."

On Judgment Day you will be judged for the life you led. God will not care how many motivational quotes you shared or how many hashtags were used. You can't take hashtags with you. What resonates is the good you accomplished and the the opportunities you offered someone else. Til next we meet.