We're almost there, ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! (Your thoughts)...

[Mrs-M]

Can you believe it? Nearly one whole year has passed since we moved into our new home. (Simple Living- New Road Map Foundation Forum home).

Thoughts? Ideas? Improvements? Doors are open, so pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, and come share your thoughts.

[iris lily]

I think that we lost a ton of posters. That is too bad.

Otherwise--it's all fine. The software isn't my favorite but it is ok. We can post photos--that I like.

[Stella]

I think Iris summed up how I feel. I am sad that we lost a lot of people, but I still enjoy coming here. I like the ability to post pictures too.

[sweetana3]

It has been hard due to the loss of posters to regain that feeling of community. However, it is slowly coming back. We have some pretty great people who post lovely reasonable answers to questions.

[Mrs-M]

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me, Iris, Stella, and Sweetana3. I share the same sentiment Re: posters who are no longer with us.

[Gregg]

It was sad that a lot of the old timers didn't make the transition to the new site, but it did make room for a lot of new blood. Overall I'm glad the community survived because I don't know of any other forum that offers this wide a variety of topics to such a diverse group. That is pretty refreshing.

[kally]

oh I don't even notice who is here and who isn't, because they all seem like a nice bunch. I think there IS a good sense of community, just perhaps a different one.

I am happy to be here.

[treehugger]

I love this forum and am also happy to be here. All that "drama" from last year seems so far away now, and though yes, some chose not to come back, that's the way of things in all online forums. People come and go and come and go again. Those who do post and read here have created such a great community.

Thanks y'all,

Kara

[Spartana]

I also miss the larger number of posters here as well as the long threads we's have on things like finances, budgets, alternate living styles/housing, early retirement, etc.. Sometimes there are no new posts on those forums for weeks - or they are short lived. Seemed to have a bit more diversity back then - probably just due to having a larger number of members. But I still enjoy coming here and realy get a boost out of the sense of community. Hard to find in this less-than-simple, consumer-driven world IRL.

[loosechickens]

Well, posters come and posters go, and some who didn't make the transition may have been at a point in their real lives where it just seemed a good time to move on. And I have several pages of notes somewhere of all the posters who joined under a new name, so a surprising number may still be here, just in new identity.

The forums seem healthy, and we have lots of interesting discussions happening.

Personally, while I enjoyed my years as a moderator, this last month since I resigned has been really nice. I come to the forums when I WANT to come, rather than feeling that I must, read the forums I'm interested in, have managed for the most part to stay the heck out of the Public Policy forum, which saves a LOT of time (and aggravation, hahahaha), and continue to learn new things here and enjoy our community.

Now that I'm not "official", and can't be accused of trying to flog people into donating, in some sort of official capacity, I would like to remind us all that we need to support these forums with our donations.....bandwidth is not free, there are costs involved with operating the forums, and while the New Road Map Foundation has been more than generous in offering us a home, we ARE expected to carry our own costs and not be a burden on them.

SO.......send in your shekels if you're able......if you are comfortable this year, please consider sending in some extra to help cover the folks on here who are out of work and/or struggling with other issues. Because we have folks here who are valuable members, who would send in donations if they could, but cannot, so those of us who are able could dig a bit deeper, so they won't have to worry, or be concerned at an inability to donate.

I think it's been a great year, and my hope is that we will have many more great years to come.

[fidgiegirl]

Thanks for the reminder, loosechickens. It's that time again for me.

[fidgiegirl]

Huh, but I don't remember how to do it?

[Anne Lee]

Scroll to the top of the page and there's this cute little orange oblong button that says Donate in the upper left corner above the Reply to Thead button. It's so common that you probably don't see it anymore.

[Tradd]

LC, thanks for the reminder. I'd forgotten to donate. Just sent in my shekels! :D

I enjoy it here. I've got a lot of stuff going on in my life right now, so I'm not around as much as I have been in the past, but I expect that when my life settles down in mid-April, I'll resume posting here more often.

[loosechickens]

Yep......I've taken my own advice, and hit that oblong orange button and donated myself this evening.

These forums are so central to having a support group for a way of life that is, all too often, not in harmony with our mainstream materialist culture, and often us simple livers can feel like oddballs in our real life communities, so keeping this community alive and healthy as a strong support system is a really worthwhile endeavor, and well worth supporting with our donations. JMHO.

[Mrs-M]

Originally posted by Gregg.
Overall I'm glad the community survived because I don't know of any other forum that offers this wide a variety of topics to such a diverse group.In furtherance to this, I don't know of any other forum that has the diverse range of knowledge, experience, and expertise that we do...

[DuraMater]

I really miss the past posts -- long threads of great info on so many topics. And I really miss that in the the Success Stories thread in particular. That was so inspiring and instructive.

[RosieTR]

I too think a donation is a great idea for a celebration of the one year. I'm also one of those who both changed my moniker and haven't had as much time to post more recently. In some ways it's nicer to have a bit smaller crowd if you don't have that much time to go through the forums all the time but in other ways it was nice to have big discussions. As for the whole concept of the forums, I really enjoy that. Especially the ability to be somewhat anonymous, because it affords a certain freedom to explore ideas that might not be as comfortable IRL. I'm not talking about nasty things like insulting people, but more like financial stuff you might not really want to share, personal issues with people you would like to deal with better but which might not be taken the way you mean it by people who know you, and that sort of thing.

[Mrs-M]

DuraMater. Ditto. If only I had the power to foresee the demise of our old forum/home, I would have saved a good number of the threads/entries.

RosieTR. I must say I miss the old RosieTR, the one who used to post every day, but I'm not disappointed, because I'm still thrilled having you post whenever you can! :) You, along with everyone else who lead busy lives and drop by when time permits. I appreciate everyone here so much.

P.S. In our house, and, among family/friends, I talk about everything with them, and I do mean everything, sometimes even a little bit more! But I know exactly what you are saying.

[Bronxboy]

I think that we lost a ton of posters. That is too bad.
I've struggled with connecting with the new forums, and thought I would sign off for keeps a couple of times this year. Maybe it's a different place in my life, maybe it's a different core group here. I can't say.

Our family has had a couple of significant milestones in the past 6 months, one of which I'm having trouble talking about in the larger world. This seems like as good a place as any to work on that one, so I'll give it another try.

[leslieann]

I like it here. I liked it there. I am glad that there is HERE since there is no more THERE.

And I am delighted that those who are here, are here and posting. I know for myself that the smaller forum has made me actually participate, whereas I was a long-time lurker in the old forums. I still don't think I have much to say (but lots to learn) but I have decided that participation is more important than participating as a source of information. Hmm. IRL, I also tend to be a person who says things like, "oh, tell me more about that..." And I guess IRL, that's what keeps conversations flowing. So I appreciate the new boards because the shift got me off my lurking stool to post.

[Float On]

I'm another one that only lurked on the old boards.
This place is much more welcoming and friendly.
Infact, I completely gave up another frugal message board and decided to just stay here. :)

[Mrs-M]

Ideally, what we all need to do is embrace what we have here. We have a really good thing going with this gathering place, with unlimited room for exponential growth. Realistically, the sky is the limit, restricted only by our vision and energy.


Originally posted by Bronxboy.
I've struggled with connecting with the new forums, and thought I would sign off for keeps a couple of times this year. Maybe it's a different place in my life, maybe it's a different core group here.I did too, for a while, but I learned to alter my way of thinking and start looking at this new home much the same as a garden, where through the careful and collaborated effort of all those involved, a new, reshaped, reworked, and redesigned place is all but eventual. It's right there, within our grasp, just a little more work to go.

The ability for us to expand on what we have been given and turn it into something far more special than any of us ever imagined, is restricted only by what everyone here is willing to put in (effort wise). It's right at our finger tips (literally). However for that to take place and happen, patience and perseverance is needed, and, a little more in the way of determination to see it through. Good things take time.


Originally posted by Leslieann.
I still don't think I have much to sayThat just isn't true. :) I love your posts because you always lots of great things to say!


Originally posted by Float On.
Infact, I completely gave up another frugal message board and decided to just stay here.Music to my ears! :)

[Tradd]

I like it here. Seems a bit friendlier than the old ones. This is pretty much the only simple living/frugality place I hang out online on a regular basis, aside from Miss Minimalist's blog, which I read religiously.

I'm here to stay.

[Mrs-M]

To add to my last entry, we just thought we lost a number of valued members last time. Give up on this forum this time around, and we'll all see what we as a community will loose. (Far greater than any other time before).

You can't keep destroying and tearing down base anatomies and framework with the mindset of, "it will make the network stronger". It doesn't work that way, and in turn, walking away from something needing cultivating isn't going to make things better either. We're here now, let's make things better. Today. Now.