I have mentioned before that I lurked for about one year. Well, lurk might be too strong a word. I would check in once in a while and see what people were talking about. Everyone seemed fine and topics seemed interesting, but I had never belonged to a forum, and wasn't sure what to do.

Finally, one day, I introduced myself. I've been hanging around ever since.

No lurking for me, not the lurker type. Read a few posts in 2004 and jumped in with both feet. Been sloshing around in here ever since.

Didn't lurk. Don't like the word. I was looking for baby boomers and writers because I had just written Carousel Kisses at the time and I joined right away. I don't post much at all anymore, but I do look in now and then and PM some old friends. I think "lurking" is a negative sounding word. Like someone "hovering" over and sneaking around waiting to pounce on someone or something. Since anyone in the whole wide world can read the posts, why would people have to sneak? It just never made sense to me. I can, however, understand people choosing not to just jump in and wanting to see what it's like first.

Because I own and understand message boards, I did not lurk because I just "knew", like jabber, by the Grace of God, I was sent. I found this thru an AARP Bulletin and said right away...."Hey, that's me!" I'm a boomer woman and I sure do SPEAK a lot!! LOL!!

I found this place via a link on the More magazine website.I actually started off there, but found it too slow-moving and topics not varied enough for me.

I didn't lurk here. I just jumped in. That tends to be my style, not just here but other places on the Internet also.

I understand the need by others to lurk for quite awhile before starting to contribute..but my attitude is: why waste my time? Life isn't for waiting around at the edges of action. Trying to figure out if I am going to fit into a virtual community....how crazy, when part of my real in-person life when I was much younger..was already feeling I was hanging around the edges of main society. No point waiting around to get "accepted".

If I have nothing to contribute at times, I don't but I just skim-read. I don't lurk..it sounds like I have a devious agenda or somethin'.

I googled something like "author's advice"...and this site popped up. I read some of the posts, and immediately joined. This was my first chat forum. Since then I checked Eons out, which I don't participate in anymore, - too big, and the personal contact just isn't there. Like Orchid, it's a time factor for me. This site and a photography site is enough for me.

I was a member of Hysterectomy Association and was one month post-op when another poster from that community enquired about links suitable for those over 50's post-hyster. At that time, I was already a member and moderator of two other online communities, one for apologetics and the other is for my profession but, had taken a sabbatical for the duration of my post-op recovery because there are ancillary tasks attached to my commitments to those two communities.

I am a very active person and have always lived a very inter-active lifestyle. I was not prepared for the boredom post-op and the insomnia which followed. It was at that time when another member at HA suggested BWS and, I believe, that member turned out to be Cookie! I did not lurk, I browsed the Faith and Remember forums for a few minutes then registered immediately thereafter.

I am no longer bored because I am back to a hectic lifestyle and the insomnia is manageable but, I come to BWS when I can because friendships that have been made here are nurtured online and offline. And, if in time, my visits to BWS wane, then like school, I will visit the alma mater from time to time as an alumnus.

Dancer? What in heck does, "Question your privilege," mean?
Just wondered.

Eagle Heart - what a story....it's those kinds of things that facinate and warm me - how we are all so connected in this big ole world.

Jabber,
What I mean when I post "Question your Priviledge," is that I want to remind myself and others that we must remember what we have, and to have only what we need. Others, so many others, don't have what we have. Many suffer with nothing. If we are careful with the priviledges we accept, we leave some for others. If we do not feel we should be priviledged, it can lead to more equality and being more equality minded.

I try to "take up the space I really need," - Taj Mahal, ( a good friend, a musician and expert on Negro spirituals.) I try to have what I really need and no more.

I have tried to teach my children that they are priviledged in many ways compared to many people here and in other countries.

I like to remember my priviledges and question them instead of taking them for granted. I may be able to share more if I do "Question my priviledges..."