Teodora Petkova writes eloquently of the interactive joy of being on Google+.

Teodora Petkova writes eloquently of the interactive joy of being on Google+.
H/T David Amerland
The beauty of the people we meet when we begin our journey and the enriching connections among people.

Originally shared by Teodora Petkova

A metaphysical guide to Google +
The things after the tips, transcending the techniques and the formulas

Google + is a journey joined by curious minds all over the world. Plussing, commenting and sharing on Google’s social platform not only shapes your digital identity, it helps you grow, forming you out of a melting pot of perspectives, thoughts and opinions, voiced in a respectful, open and responsible manner.

What do you need to know before hitting the road?

You will often hear that Google +  cannot be explained, that you need to experience it. And that’s true, it’s only when you dive in the ocean of Otherness here that you understand the depth of your presence on the platform.  

There’s a certain type of magic that belongs to Google +
You cannot enter the platform with ready-to-use, one-size-fits-all  formulas, quick fixes or stay fake. You need to feel your way and presence. You can read the entire Help Section for G+, learn by heart tips and techniques, but if you prefer to not cross beyond these “mechanical” means, you will never have the chance to travel expressing your passion, being true in what you do, and allowing yourself to go full speed ahead. 

Everyone starts with an empty bus here
The Volkswagen minibus in my picture is empty and this is the first thing you need to know. Everyone starts with an empty bus here. With time (be patient), people would hop on, people would get off, and then get back. At times you would hop on other buses, leaving yours somewhere and engaging in another person’s journey for a while, then you would get back to yours, and continue, inviting other people to hop on.  

It’s a  two-way metamorphosis
On Google + you are both the vessel and the content. Here people allow themselves to absorb each other’s ideas, passions, beliefs. There is, or at least I’ve experienced it many times, even a kind of “phase locking”  where certain posts beat as one. (e.g. http://goo.gl/MmbOvm). 
Google +’s dynamics is best felt when one allows themselves to become a part of something bigger than the sum of its parts, of something Plus.

There’s no right or wrong
Don’t ever, ever forget that there is no right or wrong on Google +. There’s only the ongoing flow of discovery, the momentum of reshaping and enriching one another’s perspectives. Needless to say all that is within the limits of mutual respect.

It’s not about You, it’s about You + (the others)
You will get the best of Google + if you let the others change you and help you be your better you. It’s all about acting together and the best way to achieve this is by truly sharing and caring about other people’s words and actions. Here’s for example a wonderful add to a post of mine by Volker Harbecke  who commented (http://goo.gl/gyhEIL), giving precious points about “playing together” which are valid for G+ too: 

☆ act together,
☆ feel free to improvise,
☆ make detours
☆ open new dots to connect 

Joining him I would also add:

☆  enter the right conversations
☆  enrich yourself via the relationships you nurture 
☆  enrich other people’s lives with your presence 

Cherish the bridges of that you build along the way

I would never have been here, sharing with you my thoughts of Google + right now, if it weren't for all the beautiful minds I've met on G+.

Everyone on Google + has their teachers. People that shape their stream by commenting sharing, plussing, in other words nudging them in mysterious ways. 

Here’s only a tiny part of the people who have influenced my mind, behaviour, even career path and made my presence of Google + worth every notification :) 

Mick Sharpe teaches me mapping the rabbit holes and is the first (and only :D) supporter of my Kaleidoscope idea (and of course he is the best to learn from about the interesting technique, called posting and running :D)

Farinaz Parsay  teaches me the value and importance of a “thank you” comment, also gratitude and grace.

David Amerland  teaches me indefatigable optimism and desire to know more as well as new words. Expressing gratitude, here’s a Google + koan for you David: the polymath doesn’t know what polymath is.

Volker Harbecke  teaches me, sharing with me posts on deep learning, AI, and also sharing my passion for jazz :)

John Kellden  teaches me real-time Artes Liberales :) He does that with his Conversation Community (http://goo.gl/50T79x) too, which is a sophisticated mine for patterns and metalogues.

Peter Lunn  teaches me the art of writing loooooong comments and inviting politeness :).

Ron Serina  teaches me great offline places and btw was the first to notice and acknowledge the Thing-finder part of my  tagline :) (Leni Spooner was 2nd)

Mani Saint-Victor  shows me the doors of cognitive science perceptions, every time I have time and mind capacity to enter his discussions and shares.

martin shervington  teaches me how to catch waves, stay groovy and re-watch at least once a month star Wars :D

Nikolaos Bogioglou  teaches me how to have fun :) and also recently helped me discover one of my super powers:to make someone want to give me their credit card :D (I kid you not: http://goo.gl/2oBpqx) 

Kristin Drysdale  teaches me how to spread shining happy sparkles all over Google + :) And she also was the first one to comment on my blog :D Paws up, Leo :)

Colin Walker teaches me the persistence of writing meaningful and deep posts everyday while enjoying the journey and taking the most of it

Heidi Bouman  teaches me minimalism with her unexpected plusses on my posts and also teaches me #asynchronousdiagonals :D

Lee Smallwood  teaches me how cool a Big Data/Data Mining/Analyst guy (and his dog - http://goo.gl/gBuJkE, don't ask me how this interactive post is made, have no clue :)) could be. Plus, NOD3x  rocks and they have this precious for me word cloud section in their free version :D

The final thank you goes to ... :) Scott Scowcroft who teaches me to be me and constantly encourages and all my endeavours.

Additional t(r)ips you might want to consider:

❐ Give, give and … give (attention, emotion, true engagement)
❐ Feel your way through the stream
❐ Let things unfold 
❐ Follow your curiosity
❐ Read before sharing, don’t just share for the sake of sharing
❐ Respect others
❐ Be spontaneous but don’t hurry
❐ Be courageous and express yourself freely
❐ Improvise
❐ Improvise again

Notes:

*I suggest the following soundtrack for the post: The Rum Diary-Dean Martin-Volare
(relevant irrelevance: Volkswagen and a song about flying, well, isn’t that the frame of the flying car :))

* I’ve used concepts from three of my posts here on G+ that are most close to my heart: 
Google + and the beauty of improvisation (http://goo.gl/HCZfp9)
The important thing is the obvious thing that no one is saying (http://goo.gl/7i2HDB)
Google + kaleidoscope of vita activa et contemplativa (http://goo.gl/CV1XMf)
* I used the following image for the visual: http://goo.gl/uL6ZQA
* This is my assignment post for the Plus Your Business Academy. Wish me luck :) And just few last words: My fellow PYB Academy graduates-to-be have posted a lot of great content on this Newbie on G+ subject, and if you would like to see it, just search for the hash-tag #pybacademy .