Every now and then I partake in a guilty pleasure – I read the “missed connections” section of craigslist.

I don’t particularly read it to see if anyone saw the back of my head in a store, thought I was cute, and wants to get together. Actually, I skip over most of those postings and I’m sure my girlfriend is glad for that.

What I usually click on are the ones that don’t want to actually connect with anyone at all. I know it sounds strange, but these ones are special and serve to build a stronger bond with all of us.

You probably have no idea what I’m talking about, so I’ll give you an example. Today at work – like many days at work – there’s little for me to do and I’m following my usual pattern of perusal at all my regular internet locales – craigslist being one of them. I sneak into the missed connections and start reading some posts. The ones that make me all tingly inside are simply the ones that say something to the effect of “hey, you were at so and so today and you smiled at me. Thanks for making my day”. See, doesn’t that make your cold cold heart just warm up a bit?

It seems like there’s tons of posts about the simple things we do each day that allow us to connect with the rest of the world around us; a stolen glance, a smile, a shared laugh are all little things that create a bond with your fellow species. These things don’t cost anything to do and the reward for doing them is infinitely more than the time it takes to perform. An opened door, a friendly hello, an understanding look.

If there is anything at all we should look forward to in the new year, it is simply being kinder, gentler, and more compassionate to everyone else that shares this same fishbowl. I wish you all a much saner world in 2007.