5 minute friday -- community

community is difficult for me. 

unless a single person can be a community.

i have trust issues.

i have self esteem issues.

i have acceptance issues.

for a long time, i thought i was the only one with all of these issues,

so i stayed quietly to myself, not talking about me or sharing at all.

then something changed.

i started to write.

i shared my writing with a few.

they didn't laugh or point fingers.

they didn't denigrate or humiliate me.

i wondered if more people would be so accepting.

i tried blogging.

people came.

they read.

they commented.

they were nice.

they didn't criticize.

they didn't laugh at my thoughts.

they believed what i wrote.

i began to believe it might be true.

that i wasn't the only one.

that i wasn't alone or crazy or strange.

that i might have something worth saying.

community is easier through the computer

-- and now I'm thinking community could be even BeTTeR with skin on it.

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