Well, point taken, but I can't help but wonder if what some call narcissism another person might call being a "rules lawyer". Very annoying but also very important........

Posts where the op is answering him or herself shouldnt count but ai hasn't evolved that far. Personally i used to look at post count but lots of my favorite authors here post only rarely. I'm cerrtainly not my own favorite.

I kind of love the stories about work and even other forums. Shut ins like me dont get much experience of friendship and reading RL stories is fun. It doesnt bug me if we talk about that stuff mostly because i cut my ties. Others choose to divide their intetest between forums , seems like comparison is inevitable, just like the oil film There Will Be blood. Lol.... I drink your milkshake!

The whole attitude of" I'm glad soneone is gone" is kind of limiting @@

Should jus split off troublesome posts into the hissy pissy place etc. IMO.

Well, I kinda do too, so much that I kinda documented my perspective on our "RL forum" story here:

http://openuptoday.freeforums.net/threa ... tive-world" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There's the links two private threads 20-30+ pages each (minus the removed troll posts) if you don't mind joining the (really well kept, wonderful decade+ old) forum.

I really hoped to get discussion going about what we learned and how we grew and changed to deal with it, but I guess I fucked that up, sorry for my part in that

The thing about the Internet is, it's way easier make reality the way you want it to be. It's your choice what to read, write, create...participate in. It's why I like to remind myself at the end of every post, always be asking myself:

Naga_Fireball wrote:

Dear EEs, if I was to ask you, who is the enemy, I'd get lots of different answers.

Better to wonder, who is a potential friend & how to reach that person before they are overwhelmed.

The recent conflict with Pris and the issues around Shezbeths very cool threads make my head spin. Cannot compute.

I'm wondering, how are we losing members when EE isnt at 200 yet. And i really hope that I dont hear more hostile & cliquish They had it coming or she was a troll, etc.

Would a weekly meeting in members only help? Help people "get it"?

Or sone type of poll

I think I get why you feel the way you do.

Sometimes it's necessary to take a step back and allow things to percolate, see where one's views fit, where one's conscious sits with things. Three weeks ago I deleted facebook, then methodically and slowly began to remove my online presence until there's here and another place.

Its not so much enemies for me. That term just doesn't fit into my world view any more (which is a really condensed way of saying people make me angry but I don't actually consider any one human being an enemy). That's a weakness in my book. Your mileage may very.

Why I do find is that it's not that it's about figuring out who's an enemy, but rather who's worth investing my time in and who's just not worth it for whatever reasons. I'm spending much more time taking care of my own needs and my self, realizing that in doing this I'm able to take care of the other things/other people in my life much easier and with less stress.

Like my brother told me this week, choose your battles wisely.

Sometimes my passion takes me and throws me against a brick wall, and it's only afterwards that I've realized I've become a victim of my own intentions. Nobody else, just l'il ole me.

It's the reason I haven't turned cards in a couple of weeks. If I'm not in the right head space there's just no point because my own piffle gets in the way of letting the angels get through.

People come and people go. It's the nature of things. Some people come for attention, some for an attempt at stardom, some for simple companionship, to learn, to share, kind of like a twelve-step meeting for people who are powerless over the world around them, and are finally at peace with realizing that world is making their lives unmanageable.

That's only the first step. Conflicts happen. I've noticed that in forums, drama happens and it's just part of the process. You think this is bad? You should think about life with Alistair Crowley!

As for me, Hermits come in and come out. It's what we do. I've realized that 1 well thought out post in a one month period can have the same if not greater power and impact of 40 posts or 20 threads or 15 forums. Peace my friend. Peace.