Bonnie, you are such a tremendous example of someone who does integrate/weave both global and local at the same time, I knew this would resonate with you.

Lynda, I think that you may be right to have concerns about upcoming generations as technology leads us away from face-to-face more and more. My hope is that since our very essence is still local, we will still cherish and nourish those face-to-face conversations in a way that keeps us connected to community. I do believe that community-based nonprofits are part of the very fiber of that beautiful tapestry that we can envision.

Heidi, your comment hit the mark directly. So, given our global/local lenses, how DO we “create purposeful networks that make communities and ultimately the entire world a more connected and friendly place to be?” That’s the tapestry that I’m envisioning, and that’s where I see such a critical role for local nonprofit organizations. And, you’re right. Even within local communities, so many organizations are part of the neuronal network, but may not even know it!

Harry, I love your thoughts about systemic problems and that the global network brings with it not only “the real-time exchange of ideas” but also may have answers to our issues and challenges that streamline our work, and reduce our cost. As a fellow “time traveler”, I agree, too with your thoughts about “losing a sense of the quietude of being alone.”

Still pondering, and love what you all have shared. I’m particularly thinking about how all of this impacts the work that we do within community-based organizations, including how we best strengthen the neural network (from Heidi’s post) and best leverage our time travel to benefit local communities (Harry’s post).

Thank you! Keep it coming!

The birth of twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn has brought the whole world into my desktop. They span space and time and compress it into a little box on my desktop or on my smartphone. With the Internet time travel has basically become a reality. I can chat with Moscow, Paris, London, Rio all within the span of a few seconds through the Internet and have real time exchanges of ideas across thousands of miles at virtually no cost.

The drawback of course is that we have become addicted to the Internet and are losing a sense of the quietude of being alone. Even when “unwinding” and watching my favorite TV show, or at a sporting event, I find myself reaching for my phone and checking what’s happening in my network during lulls in the action.

[Admin note: This comment was originally posted at our Third Sector Connector LinkedIn group and we've cross-posted it here.]

Perhaps everyone’s network is a combination of tinker toys, string art, and maybe some not nearly as graceful or beautiful connections. And perhaps the point of strategy and integration is to help everyone reclaim that beauty-to help us create purposeful networks that make communities and ultimately the entire world a more connected and friendly place to be.

For others of us, though, and for many of our organizations these global-local connections and “weaving” doesn’t come naturally, and in fact we often need to fight against structures that suggest to us that we are trying to fit round pegs into square holes. The good news is that the more of us “out there” in the world who do take a integrative approach, the more we can encourage others to do the same, and eventually change some of the more traditional ‘mindsets’ that limit our thinking. Changes is coming, albeit more slowly sometimes than some of us might like

Thanks again for spurring on our thinking!