Staying Connected and Being Grateful

bywest2000

3.1K followers

2 years ago

I wanted to take a moment to say how thankful I am for connectivity and what it has to offer.

Over the past year and a half, during this pandemic, I have appreciated the meaning of staying connected more than ever.

One of the things that made my multiple lockdowns almost unbearable was the fact that I couldn't connect with friends and family over the internet because I'm on a satellite connection.

If you're unfamiliar with satellite internet, I should tell you that the speeds are incredibly slow (for obvious reasons) and the data is capped and very limited. Netflix? Zoom? YouTube? Forget about it. Not happening.

Every available gig of data had to be saved for online school and work. I had to scrimp and save on data like it was my last meal.

Every day I would hear officials on tv talking about the importance of reaching out to friends and family who might be lonely or need a hand. All you needed to do was make a Zoom or Skype call. Right?! That should be easy - in theory.

However, the revelation out of all that was the lack of reliable, high speed internet for so many people. Millions of folks in North America are underserved and struggled to keep jobs or go to school online during 2020, because they simply couldn't.

I read all the desperation of people in similar situations. People that had to choose between their jobs and kids attending school because they couldn't afford the cost to hotspot off their cells any longer.

It was hard to believe this scenario for those who had high speed.

Having no access to reliable, high speed, unlimited internet posed a real challenge for my family for work and school reasons, too. So when I learned back in April that my road was going to finally have access to cabled, high speed this year, I was over the moon!

Today, I had the best news...I've spoken with the cabling contractors and I soon will be getting my home linked to the road...which is scheduled for fiber internet installation within the next month.

So that means I will have no more excuses for not spending copious hours writing on my website, or watching training videos or connecting with the people I miss the most over the internet.

No more scrambling and praying for an internet solution that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. No more monitoring my family's gigabyte consumption! Once it's all installed, I will send my thanks to the universe and anyone who has helped in the process.

A modern amenity, a survival tool, that many people take for granted is still a rarity for many people who live outside of cities. It only took a pandemic to realize the volume of people who were unable to properly access school or work or connections with others.

I cannot wait to be officially "connected" and join the modern world. I will never take staying connected for granted. We should stay connected. It's important for our social well-being.

That's one of the things I've come to appreciate every day here in this great WA community too.

Have a great day, wherever you are on this beautiful planet.

-Susan