I realized I joined the forum and this on-line community 10 years ago today. Time has flown. More than anything else, I came for a safe place to talk. Before joining up, I lurked and then signed up. It seems like people do that because they need to get the feel of the site. At that time, I was on the healing side of some really difficult things related to work, difficulties with extended family, and I can even add that some people I knew were trespassing boundaries and making interactions uncomfortable. Later that year, I started up with a therapist to deal with these things, and the therapist got to hear about everything else that had gone on in my life. Therapy is never perfect or easy, but that was a good therapist and I didn't feel judged ... only supported. The timing couldn't have been better to get some help on the road toward healing. I like to ask questions about life situations and get feedback. I do the same thing with friends and people I know. The feedback I've gotten here is that I'm not alone or that I also need to look at things from a different point of view. I'm thankful for having this forum. People also come up with threads about their questions or concerns and if I see something that strikes a chord or where I have some ideas, I will respond to the thread. I hope that I've been able to help some of the members with my input. I still come up with questions and things to discuss. I may have taken a break now and then, but I keep coming back and participating in this on-line community.
Hey bud, I'm glad you found EC and it has helped you! You have helped others I'm sure, or at least me and I like seeing your comments. I lurked for years too and it was on dial up back then lol! You're doing better than ever it sounds like and you have been through some life changes in this decade. Has the time seemed fast or slow to you? Do you like that or not? Sometimes I want time to go by fast to get it over with, but other times it feels like I wasted all the time I tried to fast forward and it can be sad too. I hope it's more happy and good times for you and everyone going forward!
Congratulations on your 10 years here!!! I am at a different place than when I joined in 2015 as well.. time hasn't completely flown by, but it got a little faster over the last couple years. So happy to have you online, even if I don't comment on everything, I read a LOT of your posts. Thank you for your contributions here, and I hope everyone has been able to help you in kind!
Congrats @Tightrope! I'm sure your posts have been helpful to many people. Hopefully other people's posts have been of use to you too. We live in such an atomised, self-focused world that for many people, a real sense of community is forever elusive. So anything approximating a community, like here, is very valuable. Here's to the next ten years! *gets drunk in your honour*
I likewise had my 10th anniversary a couple weeks ago and boy does time fly. Ten years ago I was a dipshit 18 year old recent high school grad who had unmedicated/undiagnosed bipolar disorder, was a sex addict in active addiction, and had a number of other giant neon blinking arrow warning signs that I was blind to. If I look back at my post history from back then I cringe so hard. After college I graduated to drug addiction and alcohol abuse as I spent two and a half years hanging out with the pure insanity that is my mom’s side of my family. Eventually smoking tons and tons of marijuana all day every day stopped being fun and absolutely destroyed my mental health. I realized I needed help, I needed to change, and I needed to get away from all the craziness. So one year ago yesterday I packed up and moved to a city I’d never been to before, got into a couple of twelve-step groups for the issues that I have, and that was the best decision I’ve ever made. I’m planning to go to grad school next year to be a therapist even. It took me a year to recuperate and recalibrate and for the first time in a very long time I can actually say that I like the path I’m on.
I'm also at 10 years in a few weeks! Glad to see you have gotten support through EC to feel more comfortable, and thank you for sticking around to support others. I really think everyone who gets some benefit from EC should pay it forward and help at least one other person. I also want to say for any people just starting to come out: don't feel rushed and do it on your own pace. It can take years to make progress, but it's so much better than trying to fit other people's strict expectations. And the hard part is that we all have to work to live in a supportive social environment outside EC (friends, family, school/work colleagues).
@AwesomGaytheist @resu @HM03 Hello to all of you and, yes, I recall that quite a few of us, along with a few others, joined the forum at about the same time and we know how our lives have unfolded over the last decade. That's just the start. We also sort of know what we're all like and our idiosyncrasies. I mean this in the healthiest and nicest of ways! @mnguy Time moves fast when you have things you need to get done. Time moves slow when you don't. It can be the pits! I appreciate the posts made on the thread. I'm mostly a conventional and low key person, but can break out of that when I want to or need to, but I sure live my life by my own rules. I have been able to combine that and being active on the forum, so that's a good thing to be able to do.
It's been over a decade for me. I am rarely active now but I went through a stage of my life where I loved talking about sexuality/gender identity stuff and felt like I had a less often heard perspective that could help a percentage of kids that might be going through something similar.
