The Invisible Man

Bret Favre. Jesse James. Ashton Kutcher. Tiger Woods. Just the most recent casualties of high-tech cheating.  These men thought they could become invisible in the nether regions of cyberspace.

I've been thinking about "The Invisible Man" lately.  Not so much the H.G. Wells story, but the later movies.  Especially the version called "The Hollow Man" made in 2000. I remember watching one of those "behind the scenes" pieces and being particularly intrigued about a discussion of how morality declines if the actions of a person cannot be seen.  Pretty sad.  Basically, we all need to be our brother's keeper or society will go to Hell in a hand-basket. I couldn't believe that.  It's just too grim. I refuse to believe that people are not basically good.

Ten years later, I'm revisiting that idea and rethinking my position. Since that movie came out, we've seen the internet explode and have introduced texting and Facebook into our everyday life.  We are more connected, yet disconnected.  More visible, yet invisible.  I'm not saying we're in Hell, but Al Gore did get a Nobel Prize for telling us that it's getting a wee bit warmer. The simple fact is that people tend to say and do things behind computers and cell phones that they normally wouldn't do otherwise. This is the much touted, cliché-riddled, "double-edged sword". A lot of good and healing comes from being able to discuss matters freely and openly. A lot of hurt, divorce, and cyber-bullying occur as well.

I'm doing my fair share of healing from internet burn. It's been a while since my last post. Perhaps feeling like the invisible man can have a positive result if I'm free to express and heal openly, yet secretly.  I've released a lot of venom privately over these last few months. Venom that has no place in the universe or out in cyberspace. I felt it was the responsible thing to do.  It's my way of healing without doing harm to others.  We are hit daily with toxic images and stories.  I felt it was irresponsible to add to the mix.  However, now that I'm less toxic, I'm ready to be more visible in my invisibility.