hi all
At 21:35 1999/05/05 -0400,
'shy-sibling' wrote, in part,
via barb patterson, our 'list-mom':
>... I feel like an oddball on this
>list because there are a few members who post often and take up
>a lot of "space", are fairly articulate, authoritative, etc. You
>do a great job keeping the list together and running, but I have
>thought about the need for an alternate "shy people's" list, a
>place where the shy, the tired, the less articulate, the skeptical,
>the scared, and even the gloomy could gather in safety and have
>voices that don't get drowned out.
>
>I'm especially thoughtful about a comment that [another member]
>made recently about PARKINSN not being a place to share feelings
>and opinions, but to convey information. Is that the current
>perspective? I want a place to share feelings and opinions.
>What would be your feeling about someone starting up a less
>intimidating forum for shy person's sharing about issues relating
>to having Parkinson's Disease? I know nothing about how to do
>this but would find out as needed...
for a shy person who feels like an oddball
this is a pretty well thought out and sensitively worded message!
as far as i am concerned
you [we] are already in a place
where the incoherent and the inhibited
the frightened and the forlorn
the weary and the leery
can feel safe
[from everything but corn-ball writing]
an e-mail mailing list is a unique form of communication
every member can be heard without being drowned out
every member can be heard in their turn
every member has to take their turn
this specific mailing list may be unique among mailing lists
there is no censorship in re subject matter
no one member can censor another
as far as i know the only restriction here, according to 'da boss'
is 'no flaming' i.e. no personal attacks
in my humble opinion
sharing hard core news and info is valuable and useful
sharing opinions is challenging and stimulating
sharing feelings is the ultimate in generosity
when any message gets posted here
it is automatically kept in the list archives
at the university of toronto
the archives are duplicated and made searchable
on the wwweb by simon coles in the u.k.
[the wwwonders of the wwweb!]
they are an invaluable and incomparable resource
that we, you and i, are creating even now with this discussion
some of us can spell and some of us can't
some of us can ride pogo sticks and some of us can't
so what
as i have ranted on at 'cyber-dad don' in the past
each one of us is unique
with unique experiences and histories which mould us
and each one of us has something of themselves to share
which no one else has
i was scared to death
when i sent my first 'public e-mail message' to this list
[on october 10th 1995 - "hello and hormones" - it's in the archives]
i proof-read it about 10 times till i was cross-eyed;
my hands were sweating as i pushed the 'send' button
but that fear and timidity and shyness is human and natural
it's part of the learning process - it's bio-chemical
i probably felt just as nervous the first time i drove a car
or the first time i set the clock on my vcr
more important
i knew practically zip about pd and knew no-one else who had it
anything i have learned about it and about us
is due to the wwweb and this list.
period.
so, shy-sibling, that's my lecture about shyness for today
stay tuned for further revelations
your shybling in shyber-space
janet
janet paterson - 52 now /41 dx /37 onset - [log in to unmask]
613/256/8340 - PO Box 171/Almonte/Ontario/K0A 1A0/Canada
Scan some of My Past Posts at:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/
Mine the PD List Archives at:
http://james.parkinsons.org.uk/
Cull Nine Million Pub-Med Medical Studies at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/
Comb the 'People With Parkinson's' PWP WebRing at:
http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=parkie;list
