Network

The United Kingdom is tiny. This week in London I've met three people who I've got a connection with.  And discovering this was relatively simple: "Oh, you went to Durham. Do you know ...." or, "Hold on, you were in Zimbabwe recently. Do you know...." It didn't take long and as I result I felt I could identify with the new people I'd met.

This is also really comforting because it demonstrates that even in a huge place like London (population 8 million, eight times more than the population of Northern Ireland) there are still parallels.

It's something that resonates with a little of what we've been talking about in the office this week. Further to my blog last week, the word community has popped up as we've chatted about people across the UK fighting for justice. How do we make sure everyone feels like they're doing it together?

The aforesaid anecdotes bring some comfort as it seems that connections are inevitable. And when fighting for the same goals, it's interesting to consider how people can gather together and use this. Can we use our networks to campaign more, to encourage more people to get involved. Can we be so numerous in our charity work that everyone knows someone around them who's active in their fight against world poverty?

I absolutely love this definition:

Network (noun):
"an arrangement of intersecting horizontal and vertical lines."

It creates a picture in my head of individuals each with a little line coming out of them as they journey across the country. Travelling from place to place, people cross paths, perhaps without realising they do so multiple times. My Northern Irish housemate and I have discovered that as well as the inevitable number of mutual friends we've got, we actually went to some of the same events years ago in Belfast. It's so bizarre to think that we crossed paths so many times before now.

What a strange perspective as well, considering we live in a world of 7 billion people. Sometimes I realise that over three quarters of my friends are still up North, yet relationally that's a small amount of people I'm linked to. Compared to the world, that is.

Despite this, networks are a bizarre concept, especially because social media complicates things increasingly. Hashtags on Twitter (when used properly...), for example, demonstrate a unification of thoughts on one topic. The power to talk about something and create a stir is perpetual.

I guess these thoughts stem from the concept that we can use our voice to make a difference; something I'm pretty stuck on and keep talking about. Meeting these new people this week has accentuated the idea that we can connect to one another and unite our voices to create change.