This blog post is an entry for the Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ’10 Contest. The theme is to imagine that an electrical storm is about to wipe out the entire internet in mere minutes — what would your last words to the internet be?

DON’T PANIC.

I know, it’s hard to imagine life without the internet. How will we ever figure out what the weather is outside?

How will we dispel rumours of celebrity deaths?

How will we find a last minute dinner, settle bets over whether it was Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone who starred in Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot, reassure ourselves that our baby’s strange habit of making bird sounds before bed is perfectly normal?

Okay, maybe a little bit of panicking is in order.

I know, it’s hard to imagine giving up shopping online in favour shopping at the mall with three preschoolers in tow.

And it’s going to be tough to have to wait until we see our friends on the weekend to dissect the latest episode of Lost.

But the internet has taught us something important, something valuable — that the world is our community. The people you pass in the streets are fascinating. They have meaningful, important opinions. They have hopes and fears and interesting perspectives on your same problems. They have stories to tell.

They’re looking to share.

They’re wanting to be a part of something, too.

The internet has given us a place where walls are torn down, inhibitions are removed, caring and sharing and supporting are the norm.

It’s time to take it to the streets. It’s time to treat your neighbours like Twitter friends. It’s time to treat the parents at the library like a Facebook group. It’s time to stand on a soapbox and blog out loud to a listening audience.

It’s time to add a warm hug to your warm words.

Take a deep breath, and don’t panic — it’s a whole new world out there.