We all want to make things better.

[Gelliebeans]

What I have learned on DU.

I responded to a post from another DUer today. He was sick and tired of the hate required to fight the people that have done their damnest to ruin our country and I agreed with him but on replying to his post he took it one step further and as he expanded on his original thought and he added even more to our brief conversation. It was one of many conversations we all have here on DU and have had in the last five years on the internet. It is this type of give and take that offers perspectives which broaden my own education in the grander scheme. That is why I am still here because I want to expand my understanding.

The year 2007 will be a big one for us. Our expectations are rightfully high. Many of us have felt ignored and pushed aside by those who wrote us off. I won’t get into the facts of the bullying and taunting that we have endured in order to avoid digging at those scabs. We know it because it is just below the surface and that is why we are still here. We know that things are not going to fix themselves but we have a direction and we know how to keep the momentum up. This recent election proved that.

Some of us walk away occasionally to fill ourselves with other parts of our lives to regenerate or renew. Our commitment as well as our sanity requires those breaks. I have indulged from time to time because I realized in order to fight the good fight I needed more than just raw emotion and outrage to drive me. My health dictates breaks also but I find it comforting to come back every time, just like pulling my favorite t-shirt freshly from a warm dryer. (AC/DC back in black).

The reasons we came here are many while the reasons we stay are not quite as varied. Once here we have a consensus to make things better.
I love reading a newbie post that is full of the outrage about things that this government is doing. The fire in that post can be felt throughout and it shows that people are looking past the corporate media and searching for the truth.
These newbies feel the passion that one feels with newly acquired information that educates and allows us to feel a sense of belonging. A sense of validation.
Funny enough, they may not realize it yet that those same outrages drew us in months and years before but they will see it someday. We all see it and we should try to remember back to early days. Many of us had years in which we acquired and stoked our fires together while some newbies have just found us and realize that they belong here but there passion is the same.
I love to watch it evolve and I try to reply to these posts with the same excitement and urgency that they were intended in order to foster those feelings of belonging and validation because someone did that for me and I like to pass it forward if I can. I try and always remember that people come to DU with varying degrees of information that piqued their interest in the first place and we are not always in the same page at the same time nevertheless our dedication to make things better will always be our consensus.

We are all way past the point of knowing that these creeps in charge broke laws and have done horrific things that will take years to undue but we need to allow everyone the chance to catch up. Let us not discourage their process by the impatience of our own knowledge of the events. Things will unfold and rest assured those of us with fire in our bellies will keep on yelling until it does. Appreciate them but appreciate those who want to offer a more reflective response because in the end we are still here and we are on the same side.

Thank you for your time :)
Peace
gelliebeans

[Glorfindel]

1. Thank you! Very well said...and, as Lennon & McCartney said:

You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be alright
Alright... Alright
You say you got a real solution
Well you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well you know
We're doing what we can
But when you want money for people with minds that hate
All I can tell you is brother you have to wait
Don't you know it's gonna be alright
Alright... Alright

You say you'll change the constitution
Well you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well you know
You better free your mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don't you know know it's gonna be alright
Alright... Alright

[Gelliebeans]

2. I love that song