hello: i have been looking for a forum that is right for me. i am a female (duh!), a grandma, mom, a single woman, an american of italian and celtic heritage. edit: and dutch. i always forget the dutch (that's a story for another time).

i was raised in a traditional religion but do not practice it and am not a fan of organized religion of any kind. this one fact has been why i do not fit into most groups. i think of myself as a free thinker and i like to look at issues from a non-traditional perspective.

i like to deconstruct ideas.

people with fundamentalist beliefs can't seem to stomach my ideas, and vice versa! but my motives are normally to debate and understand, not to argue.

besides this personality value, i am interested in many subjects from aromatherapy to reiki, to politics to essential oils, astrology, numerology, feng shui, food and wine, salon type conversations, many topics to do with relationships, children, women, etc. i am an animal lover.

i would like to know the opinions of people who have read so far . . . would this forum be a fit or not? i like the fact that it appears to be multicultural, but then on the "whine" thread, there was some discussion that it was not multicultural enough for some tastes.

what do you think?

i just got through reading some threads where there is a distinction between the lively debaters and the peacelovers, or tea party crew. i guess i would be a member of the former . . .

i am seeking women friends . . .women who are able to share deeply . . . it is so difficult in the "real world" to make deep connections. i do not like chit-chat. i am somewhat of an introvert and express myself best through the written word.

i do love the 19th century (?) idea of "salon" the art of intellectual, stimulating conversation. i think it is a lost art and that people today are far too busy or stressed to get together to talk "about important things."

i believe in "process" and letting things reach their natural course (in terms of seeing where the energy wants to go.

as women of a certain age (boomers) we have much in common, but as human beings, we also have all of the diverse variables of personality, circumstances, temperment, etc.

it's interesting that everyone has their own, specific ideas regarding what would make a great forum. for me, it is exchange of ideas without ridicule and also without oppression. the ability to say what you mean and mean what you say . . . i admire that.

i don't like pressure to "be a certain way," whether that is be a certain temperment, or ascribe to a certain belief system. i find it oppressive sometimes that those who do not have high tolerance for conflict might try to shame those who have higher tolerance into silence.

i support voices of women, children, and animals, in the sense that i want to hear what everyone has to say . . . and what everyone feels.

playing nicey-nice (in terms of squelching real feelings) feels oppressive to me. i am very passionate about ideas. and i want to be able to connect with other women who feel passionately about things.

Welcome seek. Glad you found us. All I can say is hang around and see what you think. We are always glad to see a newcomer with much to offer. Maybe we are just what you are looking for.

O we have passionate women here too, seek. What is different about this forum compared to many others is the great respect for one another. Occasionally some comment may be taken too personally, and reacting sensitively is probably a woman thing, but those who remain are loyal and feisty.
Sounds like you fit in. I'm looking forward to getting to know you.

I agree with the two posts above as well as much of what you have written seek. Hang around awhile and get involved in some of the treads, all if you can handle it, and see what you like and dislike. We are all about acceptance and if need be change, for the better we hope. We are mostly wives, mothers, widows and just plain women friends to one another. Always in thre market for some fiesty conversation as well. Me, I'm widowed, retired, but own my a business as well. Two grown rather inconsiderate sons but then thats another story...WELCOME!

Welcome. If you've read many of our posts and chose to post, then stick around and see how it works. Personally, I'm not a big debater, but there are certainly women here who are. The forums were launched to connect, encourage and support boomer women. The people who stick around are the ones who can live by those concepts.

Hi Seek and welcome!!!!!!!

It sounds like you might enjoy the varied topics and posts on this Forum. I know I sure have! I'm someone who loves to support and encourage AND choose which posts I get involved in or don't. I'm hugely interested in what are considered "alternative" paths (soul retrieval, past life regression, healing modalities such as Reiki...I'm a 2nd Level practitioner at the moment), helping others live a passionately fulfilling mid-life experience, raising the world's positive energy, and learning all I can about those topics. I am definitely a "non-traditionalist" when it comes to spiritual belief systems, do a lot with Law of Attraction, Law of Resonance and helping people make choices that support a positive life style by rewriting disempowering life stories.

I look forward to learning more about you and am sure you have some truly interesting viewpoints to share!

thanks for the welcome! i realized that my posts might be off-putting in the sense that i just put it all out there without any warm up, but i think that connecting with women friends is so important to me that i didn't want to exert a lot of energy if this was not going to be an accepting, open place . . . but then again, i know that "nothing ventured, nothing gained," . . . "there are no guarantees," and all that.

so i will take the advice and jump in where moved to.

i look forward to getting to know all of you!

Seek, it took guts to jump in with your post with "no warm up" as you described...you obviously have had some experiences that led you to this decision and we all certainly understand that! Good for you.

We all look forward to hearing more from you, and about you. One word of caution I'll offer and that is if you post something and you don't get a response right away, please don't be offended. Sometimes we're all so busy we skip the forums for a day or so, and then again, sometimes we just feel we have little or nothing of value to add. So take heart, we're reading and will eventually get to it!

thank you, jaw-jaw. i appreciate your thoughtfulness.

my experience on other forums has been that there can be cliques. i think this is natural. i have been an insider and an outsider, so i think i understand the dynamic.

i think it is difficult to find people on the same wavelength . . .kindred spirits. that is what i am hoping to find. kind of a lofty goal, but one can always hope.

it can be lonely when one has ideas that are outside of the mainstream. i wish i could be more mainstream, just for the simple fact that i would have more friends. but it is not me, so there you have it!