13 is just a random number, of course. Well, maybe not so random, triskaidekamaniac that I am. However, as we reach a point where social media is a household term, and we’ve gotten a little bit past all the talk of adoption and more into talk about best practices it’s worthwhile to take into account all the little things it does for us.

How many of you have received a friend request from someone you had all but written off? Did you feel more than a little surprised? Did you experience an emotional churning as you faced all the feelings that person made you feel in the first place? Maybe you felt inconvenienced this person forced you to revisit those feelings. If you didn’t reject the request in a knee-jerk reaction, maybe you let the request sit in your inbox for a few days or a few months.

Then, after you slept on it, what did you decide? If you accepted the request, maybe you had the chance to talk rationally with your new-old friend and smooth out old hurts. What did you feel then? Relief? Release? Maybe you didn’t realize what a hold that person still had over you until you were faced with them again.

I’ve had this very experience several times during my foray into social networking. For me, there are different stages, similar to the stages of grief – with all due respect to Dr. Kübler-Ross, of course. From denial to acceptance. And isn’t that what forgiveness is, in the first place? A kind of petit mort where those things that bind us to the past are swept away.

If social media use helps us achieve that, I’d call it pretty handy dandy. How has it helped you come to grips with the past?