Dianne,

Before this topic is dropped, could I say but a few (ok I can never say a "few" of anything) words?

I was struck by what Lynn said in the beginning. I too, have noticed that this is certainly a culture in some stage of development (Lynn, I'd like to read that chapter - chapter of what?) I've not been here long enough to know how far along this "culture' is, but already I see there is some sort of "order". One theme that is definitley (sp? where is my dictionary, I've just moved ) present is that of Christianity. I've noticed this on many many occasions - at first I wasn't aware of this, but after reading just a few posts, I began to realize. I choose to not divulge my personal religious choice here (well, I have spoken of Blessings and perhaps maybe God {but it does not disturb me that some may call Her [men don't seem to be able to run the world very well, how can they run the universe?]something different, maybe Allah or Mother Earth}) because I don't want to disrupt the flow of good feelings. But I do see that this could cause some people problems. I was not here yet to be privvy to the Ladybug thing, but from what I could gather , this disturbed many. In "real life" these problems occur spontaneously and consistently. From what I have learned every culture has outcasts or people who don't "fit in". Look at America - the Katrina disaster which exposed our class system - America has ignored these "poor' people and can't even have them in their vocabulary of thoughts. And believe me they don't just exist in Louisiana. I believe that our language is paramount here. And this forum is testament of that. As some have said, we cannot see body language or smiles - frowns or confusion on faces. So language and how we use it is the only thing we have to make sense of things. (How important is language then? I hope if no one understands anything else about these forums, they will understand the importance of language - our words and how we use them have a profound effect on each other). It's my hope that we all, no matter where in the world we might call home, have come to the place where we can rise above the idea that outcasts are a permanent part of our society. Because together we can change this.

So. I am saying that I believe we can no longer ignore the outcasts (for whatever reason they are considered outcasts)in our world or in this forum. Maybe that's too strong a word for this forum - maybe I should say people with differing ideas.

One other thing - there was a thread where many of us were giving advice to another, including myself. But on reflection, I thought that maybe people were being too harsh with this person. We all have made mistakes in love and life and sometimes because of the great hurt it caused us, we are all the more forceful in our opinions about a similar event. But remember, we were slow to heal and needed a soft place to land. So I hope that we can all keep these thoughts in mind and not alienate anyone who really needs us.
And if we can see that someone needs more help than mere conversation can do, we need to say so. Is there a way that we could compile a list of therapists by area so that women could find ready help if they need it? Or at least assist them in some way?

I am still pleased to be a part of this - actually, I think it is an important bit of research on many levels and a whole lot of information could be derived for the benefit of all.....And hey, didn't we used to give the sign of peace? Or what was that tie/dye all about? And if you guys could see the afro I had in the 60's, me being pasty white and all you would LOL (or, Learning Odd Language).

Searcher