When I used to think about Twitter, joy was not the first word that came to mind. That is no longer true. Twitter can be fashioned into a place for joy.
I joined Twitter in 2009. I viewed it as a place to get news quickly. Immediacy seemed important in a post 9/11 world. It was a place where views could be shared in a concise format. It enabled communication from many viewpoints and places around the world. I felt that being informed was important and I saw Twitter as enabling that quickly.
This year I began to consider writing a blog. A Twitter account in line with that seemed important. I set up a new account to link with my blog. I decided to follow members that I just liked. I love art and so the National Gallery in DC was checked off as well as the Smithsonian, Musee D'Orsay, ChateaudeVersailles, MuseeduLouvre, National Geographic and the Hammer Museum.
The next time I went on Twitter I was stunned. As I scrolled down and viewed the posts I felt joy. I immediately felt a relaxed sense of happiness, in this new place I had found for myself. Every post was a picture of beautiful of art or news of exhibits. The tensions that a tense world can encourage were gone. Twitter was no longer a chronicle of disasters and conflict . It was now an oasis. It was a happy place I could go to in a moment. Crafted with my choice of following, I could encourage the appearance of things that I love, and love them I did.
Art is not my only interest or love. I can now appreciate that in a world where choice is often an allusion, I can fashion my social network worlds as I would decorate a room in my home. The choices I make can create a more loving and joy filled space. I can choose for beauty and peace. Understand, I still want to know about what is going on in the world. Yet, I am happy to have found a new way to create joy in my experience of the world.