You Have Mail...Fan Mail... or Not...

Many writers, on Hub Pages, are here to make money. They write hubs about products and services, in the hopes of those monetary gains.

I usually write in the hopes of emotional, spiritual and intellectual gains. I write in the hopes that my words will inspire someone to think a new thought, or grow in self awareness. I write in the hope that my words will be heard by someone and that in the hearing, they will be helped in some small way. If monetary gains come as well, then so much the better...

The fear of stalkers and sexual predators on the Internet, keep many people from displaying the real them in cyber-space. We fabricate fake identities, nick-names, handles, and any manner of pseudo selves, in order to protect ourselves from these cyber villains. Whom, if they found out who we really are, might somehow do us harm in the real world...

...Or is it that if we let everyone in cyber-space know who we really are we would no longer be able to pretend that we are something more than what we truly are. Is the fear really the fear of the loss of the pretend kingdom that cyber-space has become for us? I mean after all, the protections afforded us in the real world by law enforcement, family, and friends is still there, if a cyber villain makes an appearance in the real world of our lives, won't we be just as protected from them as we are from a real world villain that stalks us because they saw us in the supermarket?

Those three words were the catch phrase to a movie about an Internet love affair.

Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks star in that motion picture. The characters they play are in competition with one another in the business world. In the cyber world they are two souls that find one another, fall head over heels in love with each others brains, whit, personality and charm.

Some problems arrise for them when they discover who the other is in the real world.

I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone that hasn't seen it, but I will say this. In the movie at least, love conquers all. I really liked the movie and if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

Those three words and the feelings represented by that movies' actors/actresses, describe my feelings when I get mail, Fan mail.

I love it when I click on the icon and a message pops up that 1 -someone has read something I have written, and that 2 -they liked, or disliked it enough that they felt like talking to me about it or letting me know what/how my writing made them feel.

As a child, I use to love to play pretend. Using my imagination to visit magical kingdoms, to be an all powerful hero, able to save the day. To be more than I really am, or ever could be.

Many adults still love to play at make-believe, which is why there are so many movies with the themes of magic and mystical powers with which, one can 'save the day'.

In the Harry Potter series of films, we find a boy with magic powers that grows into a man. Developing those magic powers and learning important life lessons about family, friendship, right and wrong. Evolving into a better magician, and a better person along the way.

This is another recommended series of books and/or films.

People today (grown-ups) have discovered that the cyber world allows us to 'play' at make-believe once again. To be able to interact with other people and be what and whoever we choose.

The realities are that even using pretend names and avatars to represent us, we can't hide our true selves. A cyber villain with just a little bit of cyber-savvy can find out pretty much anything they want to online. I.P. addresses and I.S.P. (Internet service providers) can be used to find out who we really are. So truthfully our pretended anonymity is just that, pretend. It is a delusion that makes us feel safer, while we pretend to be someone that we are not.

The delusion that no one can figure out who we really are makes it safe to be who we really are. The movie You've Got Mail demonstrates what I mean. In their cyber world, and anonymity, Meg and Tom's characters felt safe enough from ridicule and persecution to express who they were to the depths of their souls. The safety net of being anonymous, allowed them to completely express who they really were. The love that was born of that truthfulness, that baring of their souls, was enough to overcome the fact that he was the man who was putting an end to her family business. I might have just ruined the surprises of that movie after all...sorry. But it is an important point. Pretending to be someone that does not exist gives us an ability to be who we want to be... who we really are, inside.

I believe the avatars are a picture of how we wish to be, and what our souls really look like to us. The 'Real' us. The mental view of the spiritual self.

So what does that say about those of us who put up our real picture, and give our true name?

Does that mean that our soul is reflected in our outward appearance?

Maybe it means we are more comfortable with our soul, with who we really are...

I'm not sure what it means.

I enjoy allowing people to see my true human form. Because I want to be who I am now. Not because I think I'm all that, but because I respect truth, and I love truth. Self awareness, and the knowledge of who I am, flaws and all, is one of the most important things in life for me.

I'll let you in on a secret...but you can't tell anyone...ok?

I have an avatar, one that I would love to be, and who knows, maybe I'll get to be just like my avatar someday...