The New Year’s Eve tree – a story of all that is good in the world and online

This little story is a perfect example of why I love Twitter and many of the great folks who are on it.  We are often so busy that we forget there truly are real, caring people behind the tweets that fly by everyday.  Yet, the fact is many of the exchanges and relationships that are built through social networking can be of significant value.  Over time, they can come to mean a lot; through the friendships and business relationships that are formed as a result of our shared online conversations and experiences. Sometimes it is the simplest of tweets that can reinforce the kindness and generosity that exists in the world.

On New Year’s Eve I noticed the following tweet exchange between @jshuey and @carmenhill.

I first met @carmenhill at SOBCon NW this past  September in Portland, Oregon.   She was one of the people who took part in many of the Mastermind sessions that I participated in and she shared candid, constructive feedback with me that was very beneficial. She also went out of her way to help @MartiKonstant and I enjoy our time while we were visiting her hometown by taking us out for dinner one evening to Nostrana (@nostranapdx). The three of us enjoyed amazing food, great wine and had superb discussions about our SOBCon experiences.  There and then we agreed that we would remain connected long after that September weekend.  We were really determined to make our time after the conference support our future endeavours.  We also wanted to ensure that we would hold one another accountable for the goals that we had set for ourselves during SOBCon. Since that time, we have managed to  fit some Skype calls and emails with one another.  The support and encouragement that we have all shared has been a gift.  We plan to continue this in 2012 as we have found value in the friendships that we have formed.

Anyway, back to the New Year’s Eve story.  With the Twitterverse being what it is, I decided to jump in on the Tweet exchange between @jshuey and @carmenhill and share my thoughts about what a neat concept the idea of the New Year’s tree was. I really loved it! @carmenhill totally surprised me when she tweeted back to the two of us with an offer to add our resolutions, hopes and dreams to the tree as well. Something so simple, yet profound actually. In my mind it was a true act of  generosity and goodwill that @carmenhill was offering to us.

After some thought, I decided that I would send something along to be included on the New Year’s Tree.  The idea of my hopes, dreams and resolutions being shared as part of @carmenhill’s family tradition seemed really lovely.  The actual concept of being included by @carmenhill seemed to represent all that is good about the Twitterverse, the SOBCon community and mankind in general. It was just plain nice.  So with all of that in mind, here is what I sent off to go on the tree:

Later in the evening @carmenhill let me know that my wish had also been added to her family’s New Years Tree.  As New Year’s Eve came and went I felt something a little extra special in my heart, knowing that my thoughts were now also out there in the universe through another family’s tradition.  It made the arrival of 2012 that much nicer.

A few days later @carmenhill and I exchanged some more tweets about her family’s tradition.  I told her that I thought I might write a blog a post about the whole experience.  To me what had transpired over Twitter seemed not only unique but actually pretty wonderful.  I thought others might like to learn a bit more about the idea of the New Year’s Tree as well.

Here is what @carmenhill shared with me about her family’s New Year’s Tree:

We’ve been doing the tree for almost 10 years. Paul’s sister Jillayne got the idea from a retreat she went to. She made the tree out of found objects and wire. It comes out at Christmas & we start hanging messages on it. It can be resolutions. Thoughts. Haikus. Jokes. Just stuff we want to share & send into the universe.  Starting about 11pm on New Year’s Eve, we take turns reading the anonymous notes out loud, then burn them in the fireplace. This year we had 66 messages on the tree, including yours! BTW, yours was shared at 11:10 p.m 🙂 LMK if u have more questions.

So there you have it.  We already know that social media can bridge the world together in amazing ways.  It truly does make us that much more connected.  That said, it is the people behind those connections who really matter.  @carmenhill’s simple action of including me in her family tradition reinforced that.  There are some truly wonderful, caring and generous people out there in the Twitterverse.  The communities that we build online make the world a much better place, in more ways than we can count.  I am indeed blessed by the relationships that have grown for me out of the simple conversations that I have online everyday.

I’m thinking that next year I might just follow @carmenhill’s example and have my family start our own New Year’s Tree tradition as well.  Of course, anyone in the Twitterverse or elsewhere who would like to add a resolution, thought or dream to our 2013 New Year’s tree will be most welcome.  It only seems fitting to pay forward @carmenhill’s generosity.

Does your family have a New Year’s Eve tradition?  How are your online relationships helping you to meet your 2012 resolutions?