Well I've been here a year today. Just a note to all the great people I have met here and have yet to meet in person. I remember the day I found this site. I was doing my usual dig through the Internet and on this day I was looking particularly for Flood information, as my parents had so discretely placed the Noah video at the home of my children (Its now playing somewhere in a landfill near you) and an old JW friend of mine, but unfortunately was not having much luck. For one reason or another, maybe it was demons and the holy spirit, that I thought a look for "Former Jehovahs Witnesses" might yield some information. Lo and behold! I hit the jackpot. It was so good to talk to so many people from JWland that knew how I might have felt or had lived a life mirrored to my own. How could I resist such a place and online? And what a great crowd of them too! The rest is archives...Anyway, thanks to all the people here for sharing, even the cretins have taught me things about human nature...which are valuable lessons indeed. We may have flame wars and talk shit to one another, but we all know the big list of commonalities that brings us back here, and those are the things that help us set aside the crap and gladly stay together.
I've been thinking for several days about this place and whether or not it could be considered a learning community. I would say yes, and that everyone has contributed in some form or another. My experience with learning communities has been where a class is taught by several teachers with a mixed group that consisted of other teachers and students. The subject at hand was covered by so many different perspectives it became much more like a group learning experience instead of traditional classroom delivery or having teacher/s at all. Everyone collectively teaching one another, questioning, answering, and contributing to a feed of information/knowledge/experience. That is how I think it is here to a large extent and I have to say its been very good for me, not to mention I now know more about pizza than I ever thought possible.
Then there is another matter. The matter of friends. To date I have met over fifty members of this board, and all of which I would consider a friend. You may say that meeting 50 people in a year is not that big of a deal, but to make 50 or so friends that treat you like family is another matter entirely. Thanks to you all, the pleasure in meeting you has been all mine. and the rest of you be forewarned...the spring and summer months demand that I make my rounds tending to the needs of the flock.. I admonish you all to meet and hang out and travel to see each other as often as you can. Its good and for you in so many ways, as it most definitely has been for me. Nothing like a good catharsis I always say.
Thanks to all and Mr. Angharad for sharing a great year with me. I'm hoping we'll all have an even better one in 03!
Sincerely,
District Overbeer