I recently found out that I’ve been ‘deleted.’ My name is a thing of the past, first on his myspace, then on his lastfm, finally on facebook and probably in his phone somewhere along the line as well. I’d like to pretend that I’m bothered by this, but I’m actually more amused by the idea that someone actually felt the need to erase me from social networking sites in an effort to forget that I, too, exist on planet Earth.

Isn’t it strange that although technology has brought us closer to each other than we’ve ever been, we buy into the delusion that we can “delete” people out of our lives entirely?

In a world where our family, friends and significant others are a 30-second text message, Google chat or Skype away, we also try to use these technologies to forget about each other.

Do people really believe that by deleting names out of cell phones, or facebook accounts that they are deleting people out of their lives? I can’t tell you how many girls (and guys, for that matter) I’ve seen dramatically delete their unrequited crush’s number from their phone book. I hate to be one to say it, but just because you don’t see someone’s name in your call log anymore doesn’t mean they don’t exist. While erasing someone’s name from your phone may prevent a drunk dial or two, it doesn’t erase the memories (good or bad)…which is ultimately what we all want to escape anyway.

So what should we do to forget the good times, the bad times and everything in between? My suggestion is to forget the delusional deleting of the digits. Call me old school, but I’d rather burn presents, love letters and photographs as a form of closure. It’s fun, cathartic, and it can be a group activity if your friends want to get in on that action!

Let’s be honest, though. No matter how much deleting, burning or clicking on the “remove friend” button we do, it’s not going to help us forget people. Only time can do that. And in our fast paced world, waiting things out just might be the most difficult thing we can do.

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