RT @DalaiLama

It’s official: the Dalai Lama is now using twitter. According to the Huffington Post, His Holiness laughed when the idea first came up – but then obviously warmed to the idea. His first tweet was on February 22; two days later, his number of twitter followers topped 110,000.

And that’s after only 13 tweets.

Take that in conjunction with a new statistic that only about 50% of tweets are in English, and you can see where this is going: Twitter has created a way to scale virtual relationships all over the world.

I was privileged to attend a two-day seminar the Dalai Lama offered in New York a few years ago. He spoke in Tibetan, through a translator, but his presence was affirming, uplifting and thought-provoking. I’ll admit, I don’t get the same warm glow from twitter that I do from being in the same room with someone … but it’s nice to be reminded that this very good man is present in the world. And sharing his thoughts and experiences with us.

So whatever its faults and virtues, Twitter is bringing the world closer together, from Dharamsala to downtown Manhattan. And elsewhere, of course :). And while virtual relationships – we can hope – will never replace the real thing, they add a dimension to our lives when we physically can’t be close -- and knowing those connections are open to us is a way of finding wellness.

Hope this finds you well!

Johanna