Father’s death.

[snoringdog]

Hello Oak,

I see my time in this forum as complete. I don't want to just disappear, so I'm posting this.

Thank you for that, and I wish you the best.

I think of this from Ecclesiastes
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven...

We'll be here if you ever wish to check in again.

Snoring Dog
(John)

[Mental Fairy]

Oak, you will be missed more than you will ever know.

Thank you

[manuel_moe_g]

Hello Oak

Selfishly, I don’t agree with your idea to end participation here in the forum. You are thoughtful to my friends here in the forum in a way I just can’t do in my own replies. You have given thoughtful replies to me in my darkest hour

But I have done similar things in my own life, ended chapters of relationships, where I knew I had limited energy, and I would need massive amounts of energy to even attempt to make important life changes, so difficult decisions had to be made

[manuel_moe_g]

Oak,

Wishing you the very best of luck, and wishing for you outrageous success

[Mental Fairy]

Not going to lie but I actually got rather emotional when oak announced his exit from the forum.

[troebia]

We simply have to decide for ourselves if something contributes to our life or not. Oak has been kind to outline his future plans for us, and he's decided that participating in this forum (and maybe other social media) won't be beneficial right now to him.

When I returned to this forum after a break last year, it was because I felt broken, traumatised and without any escape valve for my anxious thoughts. Being part of this virtual community made me feel better instantly. The motto here, "You are not alone" says it all. I started my diary both to document my mental state and also to not "taint" the whole forum with new threads all over the place: if someone doesn't like to read my personal stuff, all they have to do is ignore my diary thread. I am immensely grateful for the feedback and the virtual bonds we have formed. The inconsequential choice to be or not to be here contrasts starkly (I imagine) with our IRL lives: we have our occupations, our homes, our commitments and our family, and any changes to these configurations often have serious consequences. We can confide our inner thoughts to certain close IRL friends, but at the cost of having a potential security leak down the line. In this forum we can truly be ourselves if we want to and it's very liberating. Again, there is a time for everything and seeing the history of posts here, people come and go. As it should be.

[Mental Fairy]

Well said.

[manuel_moe_g]

I feel sad when people go or drastically slow down on posting, but I will do my best to stick around because people need consistency and a place to go to work through the scariest & worst stuff