Thank you, Jim, first and foremost for this group and the love you pour into in, and thus us, through the years. I will strive to abide by these strictures, with the caveat that I may forget to erase the bits of my signature when I start a thread by email, and understand if those posts are deleted. I'd like to propose one addition, but first describe what I have loved in the past about this group and miss now.
- We are a diverse bunch and I greatly value that. Rivendell as a company attracts folks who approach many aspects of life differently from the main stream, yet we are far from homogenous. I miss the off topic wanderings and have learned a great deal from them. - Off topic wanderings used to be a rare example of civil discourse. I miss that, and believe the world misses that. We needn't agree to share the journey, and I personally benefit greatly from sharing the journey with folks who civilly disagree yet value each others human dignity in their discourse. Thus, in line with your questions "does this group matter?" and "is it needed?," I propose a monthly or quarterly "Calm Colloquy for Summer 2020" that allows for self moderated civil discourse on any and all topics with the singular rule to strive to uphold all peoples' human dignity. Such a thread would act as a pressure valve, a shining, though sometimes muddy, example of what civil discourse is. It would not be a thread to vent anger, but instead an invitation to process reactions into mindful thought and humbly ask questions and express viewpoints in ... calm colloquy. It would give a place folks could point to when off topic opinions sneak into other threads as a more appropriate place to express them and humbly listen and learn what others think. The first post in each "Calm Colloquy" thread would contain the following: "This thread is for calm, reasoned discussion of any and all topics with the single rule of each person striving to uphold the dignity of every other person to have a civil discourse of divergent thought, opinion, and viewpoint. It is self-moderated, meaning there is no moderator and we are each moderators. Please do not vent raw thoughts or reactions here, but take time to calmly express your own viewpoint while simultaneously seeking to understand other's perspectives even and especially when they differ from your own." Such a thread is easily ignored by those who do not wish to participate, either by skipping it on the we interface, or by creating an email rule filter for topics containing "calm colloquy." One of the gifts of riding a bicycle is it gives time for processing events of the day and thinking through how I should respond. This is, I believe, an inherent aspect of human powered motion. It is a loss to not be able to discuss this with a diverse group of people who share this activity. I am happy to start such a thread, but only with your permission, Jim. This would be an experiment to try for a month and discontinue if it fails. With abandon, Patrick -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/d58ce460-eb2a-4655-b8bd-3ce74ce2bc19o%40googlegroups.com.
