Its not what the corroberee can do for you

[bogfrog]

I guess it's important to bear in mind it is our corroboree, and we each choose what we put into it.

I had been a little withdrawn during times of nastiness influxes, and i think its natural to do so, but i had a realisation that if a number of us begin to withdraw when some shit slinging raises its ugly head, then its almost a contribution to the mess by not contributing, posting things other than shit slinging help to balance everything out and remind us what we are here for. (different for each i imagine) but it already seems that things have taken on a lighter and more focussed, productive flow in the last wee bit.

I love this lair, densely inhabited by all its weird and wonderful creatues. There's no place like it, and when I'm seeing stuff blowing up and getting vicious between members it is a little saddening, & of course I hold no delusions that us ethnobotanically-minded folk are the pinnacle of civilisation or anything, but I believe if we are to make progress as a human culture towards greater awareness, compassion and be continually evolving and learning, rather than devolving and imploding, these things have to begin with our own interactions with others. This place provides a distinctively powerful opportunity for us all to interact across the limitations of time and space, and hey, no one said it has to be all light and fluffy lovey dovey, but I think as long as we can cultivate basic respect for each other as we are here together and make a commitment to making atleast some meaningful contributions to the educational, cultural or social aspects of the forum, this place will always continue to be the gem that it is.

I have posted a lot of pointless crap here and I eventually came to see this as some kind of abuse of this wonderful tool I had been offered. Now I try think a little more about what I post, and what kind of effect this will have on the minds of those who come across it.

This forum allows us to explore what countless other people are thinking and talking about, and we'll be learning and coming to conclusions no matter what the content is. When threads kept cropping up displaying explicit nastiness to each other, what I learnt is that we all still have a fuckload of stuff to work through and that makes alot of us bitter and angry. That can be taken out of context are fired at a stranger over the Internet, which might feel like a release cause atleast that anger is coming out, but really I think we have to be careful when doing so, or observing others doing so, as this is just feeding negative energy into the system, and as we read here and take part, we ARE that system.

A lot of the time it seems when that occurs it may be the only outlet for a persons anger (or what they unconciously perceive to be the only outlet) and maybe if that takes place here, instead of feeding into it with our own projections we should be offering support and encouragement to explore the wide range of healing modalities that are at our fingertips.

Kindness is important, especially in the face of raw anger and spite. I also think some behaviours shouldn't be taken so personally,

getting triggered by another's seeming knuckle-headed-ness is commonplace but I think it can also be approached as an opportunity to understand and look out for each other, and as Getafix said, take respite in the recognition of our own relative level-headedness at that time.

Just my 2c anyway.

Edit to add: I must state all of the above is said in the most general sense possible. When I talk about anger, spite and knuckle-headed-ness I'm not speaking about any individuals in particular, we all have our moments and I can be a real angry fucker at times too. I just think when these things arise its not necessarily a bad thing in itself, but rather the way it is dealt with determines the larger effect.

Over all I think this forum and its people are ace. Absolute gold.

I have even been thinking we need a thread for expressing our gratitude to one-another. There are some seriously wonderful contributors here, and while I guess the trading rep alone exemplifies that, it's so often the person behind the action and the expression that makes our experiences of interacting with each other here so worthwhile. The fact that here we are presented with opportunities to access plants, seeds, knowledge and ideas which we wouldn't be able to grow otherwise, is ultimately enabled by the people who come here to share and learn.

I've been trying to pay more attention to the '3 gates' analogy: before speaking/posting, consider

- is it true?

- is it necessary?

- is it kind?

If you are tempted to reveal

A tale to you someone has told

About another, make it pass

Before you speak, three gates of gold.

These narrow gates: First, "is it true?"

Then, "is it needful?" In your mind

Give truthful answer. And the next

Is last and narrowest, "Is it kind?"

And if to reach your lips at last

It passes through these gateways three,

Then you may tell the tale, nor fear,

What result of speech may be.

Three Gates written in 1835 by Beth Day

I have to say I fucking loved the rap battle flame wars and thought this was the best manifestation of online quarelling I have ever seen!

More rap battles & more kindness please!