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March 12th, 2009
 | 12:16 pm
I am stepping back from writing for a while. Some of it is lack of energy, some is the conviction that what I say will not be heard and will make no difference. There are enough things keeping me busy offline that I think it's time to take a break for a while. I will still try to skim the flists, to keep up with friends and local folk and events, but that's all.
Some time ago I said I would do newsblogging up through the 2008 election; that's been done. Newsblogging, to the degree that I've done it for the last six or seven years, is intense. Much of the time I sat here and pulled links together and wrote for six or seven hours at a stretch in order to put a single long post together; during the campaigns and the political conventions, that became 10 to 12 hours some days. During the Republican Convention in NYC, when people were being arrested and thrown into whatever filthy brig was handy, I was online for 16 hours straight, connecting things, to get an idea of what was happening where and why. My health suffered because I wasn't getting a lot of exercise, and I'm paying for that now. I am just selfish enough to believe that taking care of myself at this point is more important than rebroadcasting the news. The links are out there; the news sources are in the posts and in the RSS feeds. If you want to look for them, they are there. If anyone wants to ask me where to find things -- in email, please -- I will respond.
In the last month, everyone in the house except Jenny has been ill, often several of us at once. It has taken a toll, and my level of energy is very low. It's time for me to do something else, something that will give me back energy instead of draining it away. This is not exile; I am in exile from some places, but the net isn't one of them.
I leave you with the agreements of the Alternatives to Violence Program, which has been used within prisons and many other places to help people listen to one another. These statements are what participants in the program agree to do when starting the work:
-- Affirm the good points in what is said.
-- Refrain from putdowns (of anyone, for anything, for any reason)
--Listen without interrupting. Don't speak for too long, or too often. One person speaks at a time. Use one microphone, or pass around a talking stick.
-- Volunteer yourself only.
-- Observe confidentiality.
-- You have the right to pass when it's your turn. You never have to speak.
In Quaker practice, one leaves some space for silence between what one person says and what the next person says. This is to allow time for the words to sink into the listeners' minds, so that each person listening can come to comprehension personally and relate what has been said to his or her own personal experience. It is a more meditative way of understanding others' words than a direct discussion; it allows for meaning to gather slowly as the pattern of speech emerges, as one person's message is layered over another's, without the need for external interpretation or explanation. In the beginning, before the word, was silence.
I'm passing the talking stick on now.
Current Music: Gabrielli's Ricercari for solo cello
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Comments:
| From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: | March 12th, 2009 12:39 pm (UTC) |
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I'll miss your posts. Even though I rarely commented here, I often passed them on in other places I frequent. Stay well, and take care of yourself.
jeff
You've done a magnificent job and I don't blame you for wanting to take a rest.
Thank you. It has never felt like enough, but it has been what I could do.
| From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: | March 12th, 2009 01:47 pm (UTC) |
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Hope all of you are feeling better and stay that way. Blogging isn't worth damaging your health. Take care, and I hope to see you soon at one gathering or another.
Erica
I saw the posts for people getting together to do painting and so on, but I haven't been up to that much effort. I hope to have more energy soon; mostly, I hope not to catch every virus that wants to take up residence.
I appreciate all the work you've done, and I wish you well. (I'd be grateful if you'd check in once in a while with a "yes-I-live" post, but that's entirely up to you.)
Still here. Getting over truly annoying nasal virus that makes me cough at night and lose sleep.
Thanks for reading.
![[User Picture]](http://www.insanejournal.com/userpic/6843759/52571) | | From: | ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ann1962 |
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| Date: | March 12th, 2009 04:01 pm (UTC) |
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I found you because of your news posts, but I stayed for you. Do take care of yourself, as much care as you give all of us. ::hugs::
I have felt, for so long, like this icon. I hope not to feel like that.
Thanks.
| From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: | March 12th, 2009 04:55 pm (UTC) |
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Newsblogging as you have done it for so long will definitely take a toll, and I so agree -- it is time for you.
I found you on LJ for your newsblogging, but I hung around for your non-news posts as well. I hope you post the occasional cat-tale, or perhaps revisit your spinning and post some of that. If not, well -- you are in my reader, and when you return I'll still be around!
Serenya/Loredena
Still here. Finished spinning the Navajo churro wool, and am thinking of it for mittens, as it's warm but rough. My current winter gloves are too slick on the steering wheel.
Thank you.
I would MUCH rather you take care of yourself than anything else, though I will miss your news posts. Missing you would be a hell of a lot harder than missing the news.
Looks like I'm going to be the 'volunteer' person at my Temple, since I finally got up the gumption to ask about it (ask why we didn't have a volunteer/merit committee) and was told 'you want to lead it?' Ah, well. ;-)
That's how volunteering works, isn't it? I'm learning to let go of some of that (though I admit that sometimes I hint at ideas and let others suggest them). See you when you get back?
 You rock. Just saying.
| From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: | March 12th, 2009 09:46 pm (UTC) |
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Thank you for all your hard work - I cannot imagine what you must have waded through, some days, to get the nearly-hidden gems regarding personal freedoms and communal integrity that you did.
Take care of yourself and those whom you love.
For every article I linked, there were five I did not.
Thank you.
Thank you for all of your hard work, you've really made me think about things. I hope that you and yours get back on an even keel soon.
Keep thinking. And thank you.
I'll miss your posts. Hope to see you soon (I lost your mobile number somewhere in my address book sync crisis -- you still have mine I assume!).
| From: | royeh |
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| Date: | March 17th, 2009 09:27 pm (UTC) |
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TNX for what you do here on the net.
You've help keep me alive.
Best wishes in your recovering.
peace royeh
Thanks for the many links you've sent me. Take care. |
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