Is it all getting to you too?

[VelmaD]

I'm starting to feel like things here are coming apart at the seams. I have found myself fighting with people that I normally really like and that makes me sad.

I know part of it is me being defensive because I'm feeling like I'm getting attacked. And I know part of it is because I haven't been sleeping lately (horrible nightmares) and that affects my normally ebuliant personality. ;)

But I don't think it's all just me. (My ego is big but not that big.)

Anybody else feeling like we should all step back and take a deep breath and remember that we're family? :grouphug:

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Fenris]

2. Fucking commie!

:P

I know what you mean. The only bit of advice I can offer is don't take yourself or the world too seriously.

[gpandas]

21. great advice nt

[RandomKoolzip]

3. I just wish more people on DU would

stop predicting gloom and doom like they were friggin' Nostradamoose and actually HELP out the candidate instead of ripping him apart.

Nothing brings about a negative situation more than constantly chanting it into existence.


Anyways, my advice is to never ever step foot into GD04 again.

[Fenris]

6. Nostradamoose was full of shit, too.

:D

[VelmaD]

7. Oh I don't go in there...

unless I absolutely have to. It's scary. :scared:

Nope, all my fights lately happen in regular GD or in the Lounge. *sigh*

[RandomKoolzip]

13. Really?!?

Wow, I just assumed....'cuz, y'know, that's where fights happen. Wow.


In the lounge?! Man, I can get into a great donnybrook about music in the lounge, but I can't imagine ever raising anyone's hackles enough about anything else to warrant a fight.


I suggest everyone take two full steps backwards, count to 5 using "mississippis" and remember that other DUers are your FRIENDS before we all start talking shit. Let's recall that the goal is an at least ostensible unity here...

[VelmaD]

16. I'm trying...

it may take more than 5 (even with the "Mississippis). :)

I'm hoping to find a little away-time this weekend. I'm hoping I can come back a little more like me. :)

[SOteric]

4. Well darlin...

It isn't really 'getting to me' - not politics and world affairs anyway.

But it does seem sometimes like a lot of things in life come together all at once to contribute either to one's joy or to a gloomy mood. Right now, I've got a lot of things on my plate that have put me in a gloomy frame of mind. So...I guess the hugs are more than welcomed, and I'll be sending a few back, as well.

[VelmaD]

8. Isn't really politics for me either...

it's the inter-personal stuff.

Not that I'm not depressed about the state of the world. I'm just more depressed about the way I've been relating with people lately. :hug:

[DS1]

10. too many factions here

the joys of a big tent :shrug:

Can't say much about your life away from this place, but take the stuff here with a grain of salt

[freetobegay]

5. I agree 100%

eom

[GOPisEvil]

9. Life's too short to argue about everything.

This is a large community, and we're not all going to agree on every little detail. So, sometimes it's best to step back, agree to disagree on certain things, and focus on the big picture.

:grouphug:

[ACK]

11. Its getting to me

I left during the tail end of the primary season because of this.

This is a re-post of something I said in an earlier post:

They still blindly believe that the dream candidate with the charisma of John Edwards, the organization of Dean and the platform of Kuicinch will drop out of the sky of a cross of purity to save them.

Kerry is right of Kuicinch and Nader and this is true.

However, he is to the left of Lieberbush and Clinton.

At least we got a yankee with a liberal voting record for goodness sakes.

At least he wants to modify NAFTA and is not going to endorse the FTAA.

At least he has a good voting record on the environment.

At least he wants to come up with a national service plan that helps to put kids through college without them having to carry guns.

At least he wants to repeal the tax giveaways to the rich.

At least he wants to repeal the bill that gives tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas.

At least he wants to return the US to community of nations.

At least he is pro-choice through and through.

At least he has a healthcare plan.

What real choice has anyone else got?

End repost:

Yeah, I am about ready to head out and throw myself into a hobby or something until closer till election day or even better see if there is any hope for some of the Virginia Dems and do some work for them and the Kerry campaign where I live.

Dubya and the Repukes have to go.

+

[SarahB]

12. It takes all the energy I can muster up

To fight the cynicism within me both personally and politically. :( However, if I can do it (although barely at times), you can too. :hug:

[VelmaD]

14. Thanks sweetie

:hug:

I wish it was cynicism that has me in this place. I could deal with that. It's more like the opposite. Sometimes I think I'm not hardened enough and I let things hurt me that I probably shouldn't.

[DS1]

15. It's all because of your avatar

It told me to get bent and hurt my feelings :hi:

[VelmaD]

You know what...

maybe that avatar was cute when I first put it up and I know you're just teasing me...but maybe I do need to change it. Even if it's just symbolic maybe it'll help my head space.

I'm gonna go find something with bunnies on it or something. :)

*smooches*

[DS1]

19. I'd take the homicidal mainframe route, but that's just me

*blush*

[VelmaD]

25. Hope you like what I picked

I've been a musician my whole life (even if I ran away from that fact for a long time). Maybe the new avatar will subtly remind me to be me. :)

[MissMillie]

17. Things have been coming apart for me for some time

And it's exhausting trying to fight it.

My mom says I should just let things fall apart, then I can just pick up the pieces and start again, and that things always working out for the best in the end.

Letting go is hard.

[Van Helsing]

18. I think what we need to do here..

is not take things so seriously. I know you got upset from a certain drunk girl's thread last night about the use of a certain word, but I assure you that the guys in there were doing it all in good fun. Nobody in there meant to hurt anyone, just joke around.

We also need to be not-so "doom and gloom" like another poster said, and instead, we need to help the candidate and each other out instead of cutting each other down.

Everything will be fine. We just need to step back and take a deep breath. :)

That's just my two cents.

[VelmaD]

22. I really didn't want to get into the gory details...

yes that post last night is part of what has me down but that's just the end of a long road on that topic from the last month or so.

I'm really less upset about that post than I am the way people have talked to me since this whole thing began. And the way I have reacted out of defensiveness and hurt.

I know you mean well when you tell me the guys meant it in good fun. I don't think you understand how much that saddens me though. To know that it's all just a joke.

[cleofus1]

20. we do disagree on many topics...

but i do admire the strength of your convictions. take care sweetie and it's always good advice to take a deep breath, we all need the oxygen.

[VelmaD]

23. Yup, and the trees...

need the carbon dioxide when we breathe out. :)

[cleofus1]

24. the circle of life

I learned that from the lion king!

[VelmaD]

*snort*

Ok, you owe the State of Texas a new keyboard 'cause I just snorted water all over mine.

Thansk. I needed that. :)

[Vladimir]

26. A little bit

politics is getting to me in general. Its crunch time (here in the UK as much as in the US), I think everyone is feeling the heat, and tempers are going to be frayed for sure. In a way I think it shows how much people care...

V

[VelmaD]

27. You could be right...

some of the arguments around here have gotten, well, a little passionate on both sides.

Maybe if we all remembered to care about each other as much as we do our pet causes...:)

I'm gonna get my head right and try to remember that I care about people. People are more important than issues.

[Bossy Monkey]

28. Go here for your feel-good-about-DU-and-DUers graphics

Warning, 188K+ http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x971271

[VelmaD]

29. That ROCKS!

Excellent point. :)

[Bossy Monkey]

48. Thanks much. NewHampster's is better, but mine you can make into

a poster! :)

[arcane1]

30. indeed

the past 2 months I've spent more time in the Lounge than in the past 3 years at DU. Not so much due to internal things here on the board, but because I was getting Outrage Overload from all the bs they hit us with every single god-damned DAY!

it got old in 2001. It's way past old now. I think this Administration has taken years off my life due to stress alone.

It sucks.

[VelmaD]

31. Oh god that's just how I feel...

I have Outrage Overload. I'm sure they do it on purpose. They hit us with it every single day just trying to wear us down and it pisses me off that it works.

[arcane1]

32. it also gives us too many things to fight them over

we can't go one-issue with them since they hit us from every possible angle, at the same time...


my new philosophy is to get the most enjoyment out of every millisecond, while I can.

:evilfrown:

[VelmaD]

33. That's a good philosophy

I think we have to find some joy in our lives...otherwise what exactly is it we're fighting for?

[arcane1]

34. exactly

I could call 2003 the best year of my life, and I would be 100% correct


I could call it the worst year of my life, and I would be 100% correct


when things suck this bad, the good stuff looks really good by contrast!

pet a kitten

hug a friend

smoke a joint

walk a park

hit the town

something to balance out all this negative bs we are dealing with. We'll need to be happy and sane to deal with the clean-up after these bastards are gone

[VelmaD]

36. I get the best advice...

from my friends here. I have a moveon.org bake sale Saturday morning (a pretty fun thing to do in and of itself) but after that I think I'm gonna get in the car and pick a direction and just drive. Get out of my head. See some wildflowers.

[bobthedrummer]

38. Sounds like a plan, little drummer girl!

:hi:
:smoke:

[VelmaD]

40. It still just tickles and amazes me...

that you remembered that. I could learn to like that nickname too. :)

[arcane1]

41. sounds like a good plan

we can't make the U.S. a Bush-free zone until we can do it inside our won heads, at least for a little while

:D

[VelmaD]

45. Hmm...

I'm thinking it could be a very neat thing to do occasional "Bush-Free Days". Like those meatless days back in WWII. Instead of focusing on the negative energy he brings into our lives just go out and do something that pumps positive energy out into the world.

[arcane1]

46. that, my dear VelmaD, is a grand idea

I'll start this weekend!!!

:loveya:

[VelmaD]

50. Maybe between the two of us...

we'll start a trend. :)

C'mon everybody. It's a Bush-Free Weekend. (Not to be confused with a "bush"-free weekend. ;) )

[arcane1]

52. no better time than now!

(what about free 'bush' weekend? :evilgrin: )

[slinkerwink]

35. yeah, it's getting to me too...

sometimes I think that people forget that you're a person with feelings, and that it doesn't feel good to be belittled or mocked for your views in here. :shrug:

[bobthedrummer]

37. I'm an outlier too-you troublemaker!

:grouphug:

[VelmaD]

39. I think it's very easy to do that...

to forget the person you're talking to IS a person with feelings when you're on the net. People say things over the net they would never say to someone in person.

[bobthedrummer]

42. Shock and Awe?

http://www.dodcrp.org/shockIndex.html

or Bo Diddley?
http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=88

I'm feeling that DU has become a battleground, lately. A lot of newbies are disrupting and getting tombstoned-hell, I got me 3 of 'em meself:nuke:

[buddhamama]

43. yes and no

yes, because it was getting to me.
no, because i noticed 'it' almost immediately and altered my behavior accordingly.

i am conscious of my re/actions,
i avoid situations
and try very hard to be nice.

:grouphug: :grouphug:

[VelmaD]

44. I can't seem to make myself...

"avoid situations".

I'll admit it is partly an over-reaction on my part to the decade I spent with my ex where my basic philosophy about problems (and feelings and pain) was that if you ignore it it'll go away. Found out the hard way that this is not always the case and tend to be unable to just walk away from things right now.

I'll find balance one of these days.

[buddhamama]

47. there's nothing wrong

with defending positions and educating the ignorant,
if you're still able to laugh at yourself you're doing OK.


last friday i got into it a bit with someone in GD and the Lounge
about Iraqis and religion.
i was respectful, for the most part
and my agrument was factual.
i had to laugh at myself though,
cause every post i made
was chock-full of misspellings etc.

maybe it was my anger whatever
but i thought it was funny.

i think you're great! :hug:

[VelmaD]

49. The feeling is...

entirely mutual. :) :hug:

I do the misspelling thing too when I get all het up about something and my fingers can't keep up with my brain. :)

[rucky]

51. Relative Deprevation (things are actually looking up)

A study done about revolutions says that they tend to happen after things have hit bottom & they start to get better. It's the same reason why risk of suicide goes up in the initial months of treatment for depression - the subject is improving enough to have the energy to manifest their self-destructive thoughts through behavior but things haven't improved enough to head off those thoughts.

So here in DU-land under Whistleass... things still suck but not rock bottom like things were a year ago when shock & awe and WMDs were all the rage. No dissent. Nobody knew where we were going from there. And now we have a challenger and a strong(er) voice of opposition. People like me who have felt hopeless now feel hope & there's some energy that hasn't really transformed YET into anything productive. Pent up aggressions come out because we feel motivated enough to release them but we don't really know how/where our newly-found energies are best spent. So the more we see the momentum start to shift & the governmental stranglehold loosening the more WE will be able to do. There will be a focus. Right now it's electing Kerry & beating Bush but it's early still and there's soooooo many distractions from that (Iraq & 9/11 commission) that it's hard to stay focused. But the restlessness you're feeling & I'm feeling and many of us are feeling is a good thing and not self-destructive at all.

It's good to see lotsa reflective threads because it will help us transform DU from a "safe haven" to something more ACTIVE, which is where I see it going as the campaign heats up. People will come around at their own pace & the more people who do become more energetic & optimistic - and productive - will inspire others. This I also see happening here.

[Capn Sunshine]

53. YOU AND YOUR KIND

! That's right!! so screw it! I'm not going to dignify that with an answer! Whatever! Shut Up! Just SHUT UP! You want Bush to win!
I was here before you!! What do you know!!!!!

I get sick of things too.Things here get really toxic considering we're supposedly fighting for the same thing. You might try what I have---- the other place that shall not be named. :evilgrin: