I've always found it interesting that so many people on this particular forum are so thoughtful and articulate. I've been a regular poster on various forums for decades, since before the first browsers, before Google.
I was a regular poster on the ABCNews. com political forums for almost 10 years, did a long stint on a specialty car forum, some time on particular DIY forums, etc. Because we have to type, it does attract a certain subset of people, who don't dislike composing in print. We tend to be more articulate in print than the average person. But I often find myself surprised at the beautiful way in which some people can communicate on a forum.
And this one is a sterling standout! I've been a regular for 5 years now, met hundreds of folks, established years-long connections with people all over the place, in every sort of city and town and region, and I have never seen the warmth and maturity that the people on this forum project.
Month after month I see people go and come, and there is always a critical mass of folks who are genuinely thoughtful, genuinely kind, genuinely comfortable with themselves, without the need to jostle and jeer, requiring only respect and personal space.
I wonder. I haven't found The Answer. Is it the lives we've lived, having to hide a part of ourselves? Do we just have some quiet shared understanding? We cross all social, income, ideological lines, yet ... what is it about this particular forum? It has to be the cannabis, doesn't it? So, we share something undefined, something to do with smoking pot. I think part of it has to do with freedom. We've had to protect our freedom in a way that other people haven't. I know that I insist on it, in my life. And ... freedom has something to do with acceptance, doesn't it? In a way, we've had to step aside from the rest, to view "reality" in a more objective manner, to insulate ourselves from the noise of the rest, in order to keep our freedom. So, it seems to me that we naturally value freedom in a different way. And that provokes thought, so we also have a different understanding of freedom, and what we have to do, how we have to live our lives to preserve it.
And, of course, there's the contemplative state of mind that we return to, time and again, vs other means of adjusting ones mood. Potheads are usually kind, and they're usually interested in talking about unusual stuff. Does that mindset make us more open, less defensive, more able to consider the opinions of others?
I don't know whether the herb produces the character, or the character is attracted to the herb. But I find that people who are comfortable being stoned are much easier to be around, less threatening to the ego of others, more grounded in their own idiosyncrasies. They seem to see more of the world than the rest of the mob.
That was from a particularly nice pheno of Utopia Haze x Buddha Haze.
Yum!