From Court to Cabal: How to Expand Your World Without Leaving Home

On the way to court this week, scrunched in the backseat of a car between a victim of Mr. Tirade and a Court Advocate, a wealth of information encircled me about my neighbors. I heard tidbits about people I’d encountered on the street yet had no deeper connection to. And I was reminded of how similar our lives are despite appearances.

“If our inward griefs were seen written on our brow, how many would be pitied who are now envied!”
—Pietro Metastasio, poet

There was chatter about the fellow (another dog person) who made it through his divorce, sold the condo at a loss, bought a new smaller condo and 10 days later lost his job. Yes, people are still losing their jobs.

There was chatter about the unemployed woman who had to sell her condo and is now a renter, visiting her beloved husband every day in the nursing facility he required after an early and aggressive onset of some neurological disorder.

The chatter felt good…warm. It wasn’t chatter to fill time and space. It was people caring about one another and sharing ideas about helping one another. It was real community.

I tell you this because if, like me, you seldom experience this kind of goodness—if you stay too often at home because you can’t afford to be with your old circle of friends anymore, or you’re embarrassed by your joblessness, or you simply don’t have spirit enough to leave your four walls—there’s another option for you:

FREE Webinars.

Yup. You can attend a workshop or presentation by sitting at your computer, which is exactly what I did after my day in court.

Now you’re probably already familiar with TED, which is a wonderful way to keep up with the big thinkers of the world. But people like Penelope Trunk (see the link to her blog and company in the right margin of Lull) are giving their time and sharing their expertise in real-time broadcasts.

I attended one of Trunk’s Webinars on Tuesday night. (I saw most of it anyway. Since Tuesday afternoon, my Internet access has been more off than on. I signed up for another Webinar yesterday and lost my connection 20 minutes into the session. Couldn’t post anything here either. Aggrrravating.) While listening and watching, you can see who is in the audience with you (their names are listed), you can ask a question and get it answered on the spot, and you can learn something while feeling like you’re part of something. It’s not a static, solo experience. It’s interactive and invigorating.

Trunk uses a site called Vokle for her Webinars. Admission costs you only a one-time registration and then you have access to whatever other Webinars Vokle is broadcasting. The recent lineup included speaking Italian, trends in the green movement, meditation, photography, and living the “untemplated” life.

Professional organizations sometimes present free Webinars as well. If you belong to one, take advantage of the opportunity. You’ll feel part of a new community. And those four walls you’ve been hugging won’t feel so oppressive.