People on a computer screen are two-dimensional. If you see them in an online session, you see what they allow you to see: their improvised office in the attic of their home, their book shelf, or a fancy artificial background against the green screen. Maybe you see their cat walking through the picture (and I was amazed how many people have cats, and how attracted cats are to keyboards and computers). However, you only get to know very little of the person on the other side.
I’ve attended many online events during the last year, and I have met many people there. After a while, when I had more profound conversations with some of them, my interest grew to know them better and to see the three-dimensional picture. I think it was Ximena who made me decide to start this blog project. Ximena is part of the Wednesday Web Jam crew, like me. On the WWJ, the common language is English. One night, when we talked on the phone, we would for some reason switch to Spanish. And, all of a sudden, Ximena, from Pachuca in Mexico, who speaks perfect English, was a different person. She appeared in a different context, spoke a beautiful, rich and flowery language, and had a private life.
I assume this is true for a lot of the other people who I would like to portray on this website, too. There is so much beauty in exploring different cultures. I admire people who live and grew up in more than one culture, who know what code applies in what situation, and who can easily switch between different cultures and contexts. I would like to show what they allow me to show, and my interest is to find out what connects us all as humans. If there is a common motivation, an emotional baseline, values that apply universally.