With all the urban gardening projects that are popping up around metro Grand Rapids now, it's only natural to make some comparisons between how people are tending to their gardens and how they are cultivating their relationships.
I was reminded of that just last week when a manager of a local eatery who is also a Facebook "friend" shared a few problems with me about his business in the hopes that he might find a solution.
If the recession taught us anything, we are all in this together, so I settled in for the conversation. After a few minutes, it occurred to me that what my friend needed was advice from those who knew his business well, rather than an entertainment columnist.
But I wasn't entirely useless. Rather, I was proud of the fact that I could at least connect him with knowledgeable people who I knew through my extensive golden Rolodex. Some of the best advice I ever got came years ago from business mentors who encouraged (or goaded) me to network and maintain contact with people.
After 15 minutes, I was back on my way after planting a few seed bombs from my contact file that hopefully will bear fruit for my friend's restaurant.
The encounter reminded me of the limits of social media and networking on the Internet. The Web has made it possible to strike up a penpal relationship with someone in India, but it's also eating away at the time that we spend with neighbors -- valuable time that should be spent cultivating friendships. There's a new, remarkable free flow of information, but it seems that we have much less free time to enjoy it.
Maybe it's time to pull out that old dog-eared Rolodex to see who hasn't been input into the iPhone list of contacts, and rekindle some old relationships. Maybe we can nurture our way back to an economic recovery through a little old-fashioned face-to-face networking, creating the sort of city where we all want to live.
The Future Needs All of Us (to nurture.)
Tommy Allen, Lifestyle Editor
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