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In reply to the discussion: Breaking - State Attoney MOSBY - Freddie Gray's death was a homicide [View all]calimary
(81,304 posts)That's what we're here for! DU has been a lifesaver and an oasis in a very large, dry, barren desert. Those of us who have been here since Selection 2000 found a solace and a safe haven we never dreamed existed. HOW MANY of us came here, pleasantly surprised, with the same opening comment: many versions of "So glad I finally found you guys, because I've felt so isolated and alone!" and "I thought I was the only one who felt this way!"
Sometimes we just almost literally cling to each other! Sometimes it feels like we're all alone together on some liberal lifeboat. And other times I know we've felt like we're dancing on top of the world - in a very large, and sympathetic, AND expanding crowd! We ALL use each other to vent to. The difference is - those on the receiving end are all venting on the same outrages, with many of the same words and phrases and complaints!
This place kept me sane and kept me company during the nightmare that was bush/cheney. It was just what I needed, and just when I needed it.
And I've found it makes you smarter. I can't even begin to count how much I've learned since I started reading in here. There are so many brilliant people here at so many different levels of expertise and experience, professional and otherwise. There's a WEALTH of it here. Some people are just hot-diggity-damn CLEVER. Brutally, sometimes. And some of 'em are world-class writers, researchers, and teachers. I've got TONS of quotes in my quotes collection from people - either that they made up themselves or they were quoting one of their favorites. I've learned boatloads about so many issues that people have either researched and attached links, or they know about it because it's what they do for a living or they were married to it, or they're debating it or defending it in some way. Just learning-learning-learning all the time here. It helps you formulate your own opinions, examine issues, and gain perspective on events and crises and personalities in the news. It expands your insights. Lots of truth serum and a little tough love too. But I can't tear myself away. And I know I've certainly bored or annoyed my share of people here! And for that I apologize. But I know SOOOOOoooooo much more now than I did when I arrived.
One other thing I love about DU is - there's so much compassion here you almost drown in it. As our own Skittles once said - "someone's always here." Can't tell you how many times I've enjoyed that. I always seem to find work, throughout my life, that keeps me up and busy at odd hours. And DU is there. I posted here the night my mother passed. TONS of mixed feelings! And she'd been in increasingly bad health for so long it was one of those "at least she isn't suffering anymore" type of things. Didn't know how to feel, or which of about a thousand feelings to face first. So I posted. And within about a minute, somebody posted back. And then there were a few. And then a few more. Then a few more. Then QUITE a few more, and it just continued for a whole 'nother day! People reached out and comforted me and shared and just all kinds of wonderful posts. A few hundred of them. I CANNOT tell you how much that meant. I CANNOT tell you how much that helped. CANNOT find the words. People reached out - that whole thing about the friendly and intimate strangers of most of the anonymous people we know on the internet. I was overwhelmed. I still am. And that was back during bush/cheney! People messaged me and offered more solace and shoulders to lean on. Phone numbers, even. Which I never got to, and I didn't want to intrude, but I appreciated that so much. I didn't know what to say or how to say the kind of thank you that these people deserved. And still deserve.
Some of us refer to it as the "DU family." Well, yeah. Actually - it is.
Glad you're here!