Adding to Jodi's different perspective .

[Guest guest]

Jodi,

Great analogy! I also think that like a family ,different members

have different relationships. Some people on the listserve are very

close, like siblings and they write often, supporting, encouraging and

crying with each other. Other members drop in when they can and have

great bits of experience and advice. Our goal here should be to make

this listserve work for all the relationships. IT's like a family

Christmas letter. Some read every single word and some just skim over

the headings and get the overall idea. We need to try to come up with

a creative way that everyone can add to and get from this family what

they have to offer and what they need.

So everyone think...is there a way to make our family communication

meet everyone's needs. Subject lines are important and maybe there is

a way to use them.

Pattie

>

> I was just writing a private email to and I came up with a

> really good analogy to what is going on here with this listserve and

> the latest controversy. I hope it puts things in perspective for

> all of us and we can just put this to rest and move on....

>

> I look at the people on this listserve as an extended family. So do

> many others. Obviously Sheldon does because he is our

> official " Welcome Home " person and greeter.

>

> With that in mind, I began to think about my own family and the

> dynamics of it. Oh, did I see parallels! About once every 6-8

> months or so, there is a post or a message or a topic that gets us

> riled up. People have differing viewpoints, some are hurt or

> offended, some get angry and others try to talk it out. Then the

> subject sort of dies down or plays itself out and we move on. Isn't

> that like a real family? We fight, we disagree, feelings can be

> hurt, arguments ensue....then all of a sudden we all let some time

> pass, the issue is resolved or put to rest and we love each other

> again as if nothing ever happened.

>

> I do see this listserve operating more and more like a family. I

> was one of the original 10, I believe, so I have been around a long,

> long time. It has evolved and become so much more personal and

> interactive. It's been fun to watch it grow and develop and come

> into its own. Perhaps if we all look at it that way and carry on

> with that in mind, we can get back to what put us here in the first

> place.

>

> Jodi Z

>