Picture yourself spending some time with congenial friends, sharing your lives and pictures from your cell phones." They're curious about that cool game, song, movie, camping trip, art show, or other event that fascinated you. You talk about all kinds of stuff, poetry, styles, personal achievements, relationships, and bad days. You can share your inner child, and laugh together. They sympathetically listen to your feelings about serious topics like politics or climate change, even when they don't agree.
Personal validation comes from paying attention to one another, giving more than you get. Everyone respects you and themselves, despite our amazing range of personal tastes and interests. They'll tell you they don't agree with an idea or behavior without implying you're a bad person or somehow deficient. It's an "I'm OK, You're OK" kind of fellowship, where nobody tries to make himself look better by picking on somebody else.
Nobody here is into mind games. A discussion started with a loaded guilt-throwing question will be deleted.
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Started by Loren Miller on Thursday. 0 Replies 1 Like
The following showed up in my YouTube feed this morning, and I decided to have a look. Turns out, the New York Times has given us a reasonably even-handed look at a good friend of ours, being one Jerry DeWitt, former bible-thumper and now a pretty…Continue
Tags: Bible Belt, atheist, Jerry DeWitt
Started by Christina Scribner. Last reply by Christina Scribner Apr 10. 5 Replies 3 Likes
So, this morning, I was at my local coffee shop as I am most weekdays between bus runs. I do the editing on my husband's books so I had my laptop with me. My wallpaper is a picture I found online sometime back of a double helix with the word atheist…Continue
Started by Loren Miller. Last reply by Plinius Apr 9. 1 Reply 3 Likes
It seems as though there was a Gay Pride parade in some town somewhere and a Christian commentator, herein known as The Activist Mommy, apparently got her panties so in a bunch about it that she had to fire up her video camera and record a…Continue
Tags: gay, pride, The Activist Mommy, Andrew Bradley, America's Best Christian
Started by Loren Miller. Last reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner Apr 9. 1 Reply 3 Likes
Now that Sinclair Broadcasting has stated their position regarding fake news and its threat to our democracy, Mister Deity's Brian Dalton has decided to throw his $0.02 worth in as well ... though I don't quite think his presentation was really what…Continue
Tags: fake news, Deity, Mister, Broadcasting, Sinclair
Started by Loren Miller. Last reply by Christina Scribner Apr 3. 3 Replies 4 Likes
Oh, NO! The gun debate has gotten so heated that it has Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian, TALKING TO HERSELF! Apparently, one of her has had a stroke or a serious breakdown in cognitive skills, as she does little more than parrot the NRA's…Continue
Tags: NRA, guns, America's Best Christian, Betty Bowers
Started by Loren Miller Apr 3. 0 Replies 2 Likes
"The Lord is our God; the Lord is One." "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but by Me." "There is no god but Allah, and Mohamed is his prophet." Assertions, taught as fact, but without any form of corroborative…Continue
Tags: dogma, QualiaSoup, TheraminTrees
Comment
Ian, I can totally identify with what that article says. I have spent most of the last 2 weeks in my room, reading.....and smoking. Sometimes I come in here and check my e-mail, but I have not really been communicating with anyone. Nor have I been cooking much of the food that Mike brought me. (I did cook, and eat the chicken, wrapped in bacon, because I didn't want it to go bad.) Anything more elaborate just seems like too much effort.
So I read a thick biography of Julius Caesar, and then I read a similarly-sized biography of the first 40 years of Robert A. Heinlein's life. (I need to search the net for for the 2nd volume...it's been published.) And now I'm going through my paperback collection looking for things I can give away without regret.
But there's so much else I should be doing, and I just don't want to.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/03/depression-doe...
An interesting article.
Thanks, dear friends. Dep and me are old adversaries and I know that I'll come up again. Your support and kind words help a lot.
Usually, there's not much good on the telly, but last night PBS spent an hour honoring Billy Joel with the prestigious Gershwin Award. I love Billy's music! In fact, coincidentally, I just finished a biography on him. Great tribute and quite entertaining (the show).
Take care of yourself, Ian!
I haven't taken care of my back, so I'm back into back excercises; it hurts and I have trouble moving. My own fault, I should have kept up the excercise. And I'm also very glad the holidays are over!
k.h. ky, I am feeling much better, thanks. I have a new appreciation for those who have depressions and the struggle to get back to living again.
My thoughts go with Ian as he fights off the dark.
Mindy, I was able to see your cartoons and laughed, twice!
Ian, by all means, do what you feel is right for you. If taking time off from work helps reduce stress, then by all means, do it. Please keep us up-to-date on how you feel. Having a strong sense of belonging to a community, even if it is a virtual one, may help.
Tom, perhaps you and I learned the same or similar strategies, be tougher that those who would try to silence us. They eventually get tired and stop their nonsense. If they successfully intimidate us, they win. I have no intention of lettering them do such a thing.
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