I had a gal mention her frustration with with how superficial our relationships have become, overall. Basically, people agree on very little, or so it appears. Consequently people keep all discourse, lite!
I suppose this is may be relieving for some. No one wants to live in a war zone. The problem is, just the little top of your skull is being stimulated and like it or not, skills of all kinds, degrade when they’re not utilized. It’s quite terrifying if you think of the affect of this on a deep level.
Scorpio is supposed to be about depth. Exchange of energy. If 4% of your brain engages with 5% of the other person’s brain, what is that?
To me, it’s akin to the conversation you have with the clerk at the grocery store. Dull and ordinary, but safe. The worst sex ever!
Now, real, regular people have nearly been eradicated from the internet. They’re there, but “de-boosted” until they no longer exist. This is true, whether you can see it or not. I don’t have a solution. I’m presenting this for discussion.
Real people are all around, in life, but they don’t leave their houses that often. I had another client, considering a move to a new state. She’s enjoyed, while traveling, some years ago. But she was smart enough to note, life today is not like it was five years ago. What good is going to live among “sunny” people going to do for you, if none of them leave their house, or let you in?
Five years ago, I has slews of people around here, once a week, at least. I’m talking about dinner parties, and groups coming together for band practice and such. No one does this anymore or if they do, it’s extremely infrequent.
I’m trying to think of a way to better conversations, but it seems they have to had, one on one. I mean, I try on this blog, as everyone can see. I do my best. But I feel people have laid down the bulk of their skills, to primarily focus on “saying no” and excluding other people. They just don’t want to foster relationships and goodwill and I ask myself, why?
I don’t know! The first thing that comes to me is they hate people, but that is generally self-hate. It’s personal!
In whatever case, what can we do?
I don’t have an answer…
You know, I’ve thought that there must be something wrong with me, that I’m somehow unlikeable, or unapproachable, or too weird/foreign, or that’s it’s just that much harder to make new meaningful connections as you get older…
I’m lucky to have a couple of old friends to maintain albeit a long distance connection with. The numbers have shrunk.
Maybe we’re being fed that it’s not cool to hang out with other people and say things. You might hurt other people if you touch subjects so and so, the list keeps growing. Maybe people find it easier to just stay away altogether in such climate?
“Maybe people find it easier to just stay away altogether in such climate?”
I think that’s it but I also think we’d be well advised to not what’s happening to us as a result. And my God, I think it is LIGHT YEARS worse than most anyone realizes. Like chunks of brain decaying as we stare into a screen watching others (pretend to) live.
People must really hate themselves to be that afraid to appear anything but good to other people. I mean if you know who you are and are comfortable with that, speak. I think it’s the state of our global society now. The problem is you won’t be doing you even if you like yourself because as a minority part of that society you also have a need to belong. So wait for society to change or drive change yourself. Two options.
There are social niceties.l do social
niceties– they keep the wheels turning. But l never turned the other cheek ( 3 times is my limit) for the neighbour who was rude, drinks is a trouble maker and a pretentious old bore…he talked ‘endlessly’ about himself. Knew nothing much about me.My world improved his didnt. So here does that put me with this question?? Deep conversations that mean something are rare. Sometimes it is about right timing. l am still on the Island. Alone. The friends l had coming are fighting so l really dont want their conniptions ( great word) here. But l have been talking to strangers. Holiday people and Island people. Island people, like a lot of country people are wary. Always best to start with ‘nice’ then test the waters. For deep meaningful conversations l want a somewhat compatible Mercury and a helpful Pluto or Saturn aspect…one of the best ever convetsations l ever had was with a person who happened to be 9 yrs old. Brilliant mind.
‘But l never turned the other cheek again (3 times is my limit) for my neighbour…my ‘cheek turning limit’
l mean. It makes a difference in thr reading
I find the new religion, the religion of woke, distasteful and grating. People are scared to speak up or to merely have a laugh in case someone gets upset. Now the West knows what it’s like to live under a dictatorship where people spy and tell on you, and where you can lose your job and reputation if you don’t play this sick game. How to destroy a human soul.
The other thing is AI/ChatGPT. For example, I like birds, images of wild birds and belong to several Facebook groups where people post their own – amateur to professional level – photos. Now some have started posting AI generated images. They are still clumsy enough that one can tell the difference if one looks carefully but for how long? I feel deceived. Who and what can you trust online with this thing going off? Same in FB astrology groups where people proudly (!) present their latest astrology interpretation or keyword list obtained via the use of ChatGPT. It’s sick, sick, sick. No wonder people hide in their houses, as you say. I know, I do!
Well said! What you’ve described widens the divide and increases negativity.
Spot on Shimmering! Exactly my thoughts as well….Thanks for sharing 🙂
Give me an example of one of your jokes, Shimmering. And in fairness l will tell you a joke that you might feel ‘distasteful and grating’. Lord knows l wouldnt want to upset any ‘sleeping’ giants.
l find terms like ‘woke’ and your reaction, an unimaginative blanket response often made my people who will never ‘get it’ …because they have something to loose– their precarious ‘one up’ position in society. Funny how the ‘real problems’are never addressed
So tell me a joke.
Jeez, Dianne. She just told you she’s accustomed to holding her cards close. Why are you challenging her? And also insulting her?
This is exactly why she doesn’t speak.
Dianne, my basic point is that wokery/wokeness/wokeism is divisive. It seeks to divide rather than unite people. It worships at the altar of perceived victimhood which, according to its own twisted logic, automatically excludes anyone of a white skin colour. By making skin colour its prime target and raison d’etre it is, in fact, racist.
I am white European and moved to the UK 40 years ago. The UK is a very tolerant country but race relations have taken a dive since people started to identify with their skin colour over and above anything else.
Injustices exist, have always existed and will continue to exist (though who the injustice is against changes over time). It is part of the human condition. It does not mean one should not work to alleviate suffering and seek to implement necessary changes. However to come up with blanket statements such as ‘all white people are privileged, supremacists and suffer from unconscious bias’ is not only entirely ludicrous but racist and divisive. Quite frankly I despair at the stupidity of it all.
As for the precarious ‘one up’ position in society you mention funny that nobody mentions the white working class that is struggling to get by just as anyone else who doesn’t come from a privileged background, irrespective of skin colour. I guess I can count my lucky stars that I am at least female as it is the white working class males that are now being treated as scum.
Let’s hope people come to their senses soon though I see no guiding light anywhere. The woke march and capture through the institutions (from kindergarden, through the education system and to the civil service) is complete (at least in the UK). It seems we have to suffer this hysteria until it burns itself out. And what was it all for? When you poke through the ashes in years to come do ask yourself: what was it all for?
Thanks to Elsa for providing this space. As it is an astrological space naturally the question arises what are the indicators that are creating this scenario (social and collective planetary positions)?
Well, l did ask and l thank you for responding, Shimmering Light. What do you think put the white working class in this situation? Why do you say ‘white’ working class and not just’working class’? What l do know is tech. causes job losses? l think of the miners and the closing of the mines in the UK.She called it ‘Green Policy’ didnt she(?) Thatcher. She broke the unions by way of it and broke lives too. Those towns never recovered they were given zero support. Do you think Brexit made things better in the UK– that was a popularist led cause. He lied. It worked. Who was targeted during that campaign? Honestly, when l think of the UK l think of class system. It was imported with the convicts to my country and it is alive and well today. What would you change exactly? l have heard these views (your views) before, but what do you want to do/change? Usually, (and if l am wrong l will say so) The answer is to stop immigration and deport certain groups. Will that create jobs? Factories get automated.It is cheaper…profits up. Might be a clue with that. Follow the money. (The rich, so admired, by many–dont care about you, but are too dangerous to target…) There are jobs here that no one wants. Cant get doctors to go rural for example Fruit pickers. Meat workers. Hospitality. Many under paid and exploited.
l could talk about rich schools, with swimming pools and public schools lacking in basic equipment..poor suburbs with bad public transport and wealthy ones spoiled for choice. But to stay in power the left leaning government here ( the last one: Right Wing Conseratives, lead by an Evangelical Christian, created Robo Debt to claw back money from the pooerest of the poor…people died. l will let you look it up) will give tax cuts to the section of society who needs it the least–to keep them sweet. l would give it to the schools and health services who need it the most. There is division but those who jump up and down about ‘wokism’ dont have the right target, in my opinion. Those who should be held accountable just get richer and more powerful, while others who have less than most are scapegoated. It works a treat. Goes in circles and gets us no where. And that is how ‘they’ want it– if the people stopped fighting amongst themselves change could come and that terrifies the powers that be…but it needs new thinking. I hope Pluto in Aquarius brings it.
Thanks for your thoughts, Dianne. I say ‘white’ working class because of the current obsession with skin colour and minorities which bestows, in the minds of those who push this ideology, some victimhood status. To be clear, the parameters as for who has the right to identify as ‘disadvantaged’ is limited to being non-white aka ethnic and also non-heterosexual aka LGBTQIA2S etc. And no, I’m not making this up.
What would I change? I am not advocating some golden age where the unions ruled and held the country to ransom. No, we can’t go back. The current scenario, and this is not limited to the UK but can certainly be witnessed in mainland Western Europe also, is one where the choice of political party is centrist left-wing and slightly more or less centrist left-wing. In other words, true conservatism has died and the current British Tory (conservative) party deserves being wiped out at next year’s General Election.
At the same time it’s become increasingly obvious that neither side holds the power when in office. The power behind the throne, as it were, appears to be held by the likes of George Soros and the WEF. The way to destabilize western democratic nations and societies can no longer be done with conventional wars but what better way than to flood those nations with unlimited immigration of the type that is incompatible with western, formerly Christian, values. In Europe, at least, that refers to young Muslim men. The social tensions this creates are real and integration is, sadly, not.
I do actually agree with you that Wokism is not the main problem. The main problem is those who push this divisive ideology onto the unsuspecting masses. Let the people fight it out amongst themselves – divide and conquer. If you are busy fighting for your survival due to limited resources (unbridled immigration is exacerbating the UK’s chronic housing shortage and people in the low income sector are hit hard by wages being undercut) you don’t have time to ask questions.
I don’t have high hopes for Pluto in Aquarius. We have AI, getting rid of even more jobs and dehumanizing those that are left to an increasing extent. More ‘1984’ and ‘Brave New World’. I hope I’ll be proven wrong.
I have been wondering about the astrology though. My understanding is that it’s Neptune that rules (negatively) mass migration, victimhood, delusions, illusions and confusion, loss of boundaries and a general un-doing of whatever existed before. In the current era Neptune entered Pisces in 2011, around the time ‘woke’ gained popularity. I can only hope this particular mirage comes crashing down when Neptune enters Aries in 2025.
Thank you for summing it up so well, Shimmering. We can only hope and pray for improvement in 2025.
I was going by what was written.When l hear this sort of thing– and l hear it a lot ‘woke equals distasteful and grating’ l dont hear argument. l hear about ‘jokes’that arent funny that hide thinly veiled contempt. But maybe l am wrong…so let’s hear the argument/ jokes whatever. l was being pretty nice about it, certainly equal to her offering.
I don’t want to fight, at all. It’s just that she was speaking her mind, You are challenging her. I want people to be able to come here and speak. Please keep this in mind.
I guess the my only and best response is– l was speaking mine.
Platitudes wont get us beyond anything superfical…catch phrases offering nothing new. Same old same old…
Time for me to put down the machine and take a good long walk in wild nature.
Well, if you bemoan empty and polite supreficiality, and pine for more honest and meaningful exchange, it makes sense to welcome the deeper feelings when they arise.
In recent years I’ve actually had more meaningful conversations on the phone with customer service reps of all varieties than with people I know!
‘where people spy and tell on you…. if you don’t play their sick game’
Completely understand this. Social media is a nefarious form of mind fuqery. Get thee to a nunnery! (erm, I mean library)
There’s room for everyone who hears a different drum in my Taurus 12th house during a Uranus transit.
I fear this is true…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GAI_bhWW8AAsca3?format=jpg&name=small
We have adapted.
that’s true even our neighbors are more withdrawn more indoors and take less vacations. (vacations such as going camping, roughing it out) with the senior citizens they rough it out with moving campers hauled by their car and to them thats roughing out. but since pandemic it’s not been the same. the tide of change progressed over the covid pandemic, while everyone did stay home due to restrictions. now it’s more of economic hardship and also fear, i think to a certain degree. i try to go out sometimes to bring cakes, cookies and chocolates to the neighbors even a bottle of wine along with it. Just so they are remembered and that there are people still around, and thinking of them. ALthough my neighbors say i’m fattening them up lol
although life really has changed, drastically, pluto cap with jupiter cap and stellium during covid really changed everyone, like that ripple in the water that effects world wide. then the aquarius energies with saturn in pisces feels “exposed” all humanity feels super exposed, the darkness of their humanity and also the goodness. Saturn in pisces really dissolves the boundaries and the air element is exposing so much darkness.
as for adaptation, it’s just like covid, it killed many people in the first years then the virus (which needs to survive to exist) is trying to mutate and adapt because the virus really doesn’t want to kill off people. It wants to thrive. Therefore, it adapted and changed into a flu or cold for many. I think this is what happened to many viruses in the past too. The adapting to survive.
I’m maintaining connection to my neighbors in a similar way and they’re doing the same with us.
I agree, I have so much gratitude for this blog.
As ever, Elsa identifies trends, and so many commenters, with their words, echo, and validate, my thoughts.
I am guilty of this behavior, staying home and hiding out. I spend so much time alone, absorbing information all day long. Headphones on for hours, or lying in bed reading (instead of sitting up, so that my neck doesn’t get sore). And as Elsa has pointed out, it is an addiction, to information. I know a lot more than before we had phones, but, so what? Has my life improved? In small ways, yes (recipes in an instant! bills paid online – no stamps needed!), but in major ways, not at all.
For 20 years I worked at a dynamic and social job I loved, where on some days I’d interact with 100 people. It was at a retail art gallery and so we took our first big hit in March 2020, when stores closed for a couple months. Then we closed for good in April 2021. Without lots of foot traffic, we couldn’t pay the bills. The storefront is still empty. The landlord has deep pockets, preferring to lose a 30-year tenant than to help with rent a little. But, *whatever* — it’s just another pandemic casualty, among the millions.
So, I went from being very front-facing and interacting with people all day (Leo rising, Leo sun, Aqu Mars) to becoming a near-hermit (Scorpio Moon). For the first year (outside of the real fear, ruin, and sorrow brought in by the pandemic), it felt like a forbidden and delicious pleasure, to be home, in silence, with no one expecting a thing from me.
I became a pig in mud. I told my husband, I’m not going back to work for a while, I don’t care what happens. I had been working and hustling since I was 15, and I desperately wanted, and needed, that rest.
Astrologically, here is what makes sense about all this, I think:
1. My natal 12th house Cancer Venus at 28’50” is being opposed by Cap Pluto in late degrees transiting my 6th house. Does anyone know the word immurement? This is how my venus feels.
2. 2020-2022 were the Balsamic phase, or the last three years, of my 30-year progressed lunar cycle…time to go dark, to let things die, and cocoon, in preparation the next 30.
3. Transit Cap Pluto sextiling natal Scorpio Jupiter in 4th house…my home expanded to become my entire (under)world.
But now, 3 years on and still not working, all that Elsa is saying, is true for me. Skills atrophying, don’t leave the house much, a vague fear of people, and a little hatred for a few (which, yes, I see is self-hatred, the unclaimed shadow!) Plus, today I have $1 yes, one dollar) in my checking account. I’m laughing as I write this…I have really painted myself into a corner!
I keep saying I’m ready to re-enter the world, but it feels harder. My loneliness is killing me (thank you, Britney, you said it best) and still, I’m holed up. Sometimes when I do go out, I cry when talking to strangers, the connecting is so tender.
I see the humor in this, along with the pathos.
When I lost my job, I dreamed of creating my own path forward. I’m discouraged to learn how much I depend on the outside world for structure…without it, I’m adrift.
I signed up for facebook years ago and never once used it. My Scorpio moon feared it then and still does, so for me, social media doesn’t even come into play, but the atmosphere of paranoia surely does, along with self-censorship. Even writing on this blog feels like a dramatic, terrifying, risk.
Guessing many of us feel that, which is why we revere Elsa’s bravery and candor.
But, yeah, people need to get back into the world, to be with others again…don’t we?
((((((Ade))))))
Ade, I had a client contact me, offering to pay for a consult for you. I will be emailing you, shortly, to see if you’re interested. 🙂
If I hadn’t already retired, I’d have happily jumped on the ever expanding work from home bandwagon. It’s not too late, and an easier transition than the grind of dress up, drive, and decompress, and the confinement of any workplace. “Meeting” 100 people on the phone is just as interesting as in person!
Warped, so true. Remember how much time we spent commuting and getting dressed? Years of a life!
Work from home would be a good re-entry for me, I think. Thank you for the idea and for replying to me. Happy retirement!
Thank you, and Happy New Ventures — Good Luck!
Elsa, what do all those ellipses mean?
They represent a BIG hug.
Aww, thanks! ♥️ Right back atcha
(ha I meant parentheses, not ellipses)
Thank you, Ade.
I love this blog! For years now, I’ve found the depth my Scorpion needs seek. At a time when internet and blogs were still “optional “ (I found Elsa in 2008) Pluto was leveling my Capricorn 12th House), and while my husband and I researched how to literally build a moveable home as contemporary Romani (Gypsy) I deepened my understanding and practice of astrology.
In some ways (as we have for most our life together ) we have lived on the edges of society bringing very different birth origins into play. Public yet isolated life that’s been the journey.
Whew this could get WAY long; but instead I’ll say that the ways I have found to innovate and keep my deepest value and light on throughout this challenge is to create. Elsa does it here, Satori does it from her hideaway. Years ago I create a blog/mythic place called The Safety Pin Cafe. I cannot maintain blog due my physical capabilities but the story and webs live on as I innovate even with one new connection.
The depth and repetition keep sprouting slower these days but oh how surprising it is the magic, the angles the application when it is me who is the (old!) APP
I think today’s world presents a wonderful opportunity to cultivate for oneself.
In my opinion, brain atrophy happens not in the absence of social engagement but in lack of problem solving skills.
Learn something new or perfect certain crafts. Figure things out… baking the perfect loaf of bread and French baguette. Learn woodworking or build those shelves yourself, the ones you always wanted but can’t afford for a fraction of the cost.
Legitimate question is WHY …why should we not embrace the pulling way ie: I am home and not engaging as much. There are legitimate reasons for not engaging right now in this world, other doors open in my opinion when you embrace it.
Absolutely! I’m an information addict so I still procrastinate about most projects in favor of reading, but liberation from social obligations means more free time to dabble and explore new skills and interests. Freedom!
It’s a fair question and it might be right for some for some amount of time. But there’s also something to be said for stepping up to help others because the day will likely come, when you will need help. Will you have any?
I’m not trying to peddle fear. This is also a legitimate question.
If you’re a certain personality type, staying alone may be the path of least resistance and most comfortable but is it good for the soul to stuff itself with information, never to be shared? I don’t know. Maybe.
See, it depends on what you are trying to do. I don’t think you grow all that much, with no interaction with the outside, because no one is checking you. You’re grading yourself.
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve spoke to, you wake up one day and think, wtf have I done? So maybe this won’t be you, but I think anyone choosing to isolate should consider things like this carefully.
My husband I had a conversation over dinner – it about being required to help the sick and bury the dead and such. He feels this way, as do I. I think sitting alone, consuming, whatever, for your own benefit is a choice, but it would definitely be the wrong choice for me.
Anyway, we feel called to do for others, is what I’m saying. I can understand other people being called in a different direction, but I would still consider this stuff, carefully.
In whatever case, I was created to serve. It really doesn’t matter the capacity. For example, bringing people communion in the hospital was one of the most satisfying of all my activities. Spending time with the very old ladies in the Woman’s Club I joined, is another example of just a quality thing to do… for me anyway. Far better then staying home. I feel we should lift up others every chance we get.
I hear what you are saying Elsa, but we don’t see it the same way.
I don’t believe we humans are meant to be socially inundated as we are in today’s world: work colleges, grocery and errands, family, friends, social media, neighbors, emails, phone etc…and I certainly don’t think engaging to engage so as to have help ‘in case’ is the best approach (for me anyways).
Troubled times comes regardless – just like you can feel alone in a room of family and friends or have children and they are distant and you age by yourself. I help neighbors if needed and I work in elder care. I hear amazing stories and bask in wisdom (always enlightening to hear what the elders think is injustice). Plus, I refuse to subject myself to nocensical woke’ism.
Challenges can come from so many avenues that go way beyond engaging with people.
Goals we set for ourselves, voices in our heads, people from our past or present, disciplinary checks & balances, aging and sickness, siblings and family, death…on and on. I am more challenged by me then by others. Perhaps there are others who feel this way and I do believe we are in fated times and this is what we are dealing with as a species.
I understand, I figure my feelings are tied to my chart. I’m sorry.
No, no! No apologies needed 😉
Just want to leave this here for whomever is browsing thru that wants to dive deeper.
The last 3 going on 4 yrs.
The role of the hippocampus and what has happened to it these last yrs. The diminished capacity and damage caused to it by the fear pushing everywhere, constant repetition (think safe and effective) to the point of madness..entire narratives being pushed in repetition, and pop up new narratives of the day or month that switch to the new ‘fear’. And…of course the personality changes we are seeing in those we know.
See Dr Micheal Nehls (German)
(below from wiki)
“Nehls authored over 50 scientific publications, two of which were published with the Nobel Prize winners…his work was honored by the American American Association of Immunologists as a “pillar of immunologic research
“Unified theory of Alzheimer’s disease (UTAD): implications for prevention and curative therapy.”[7] His breakthrough discovery regarding the development, preventiond and therapy of Alzheimer’s disease, he received the Hanse-Award for Psychiatry 2015 from the University of Rostock, Germany.[8]”
He has a new book out.
The Indoctrinated Brain: How to Successfully Fend Off the Global Attack on Your Mental Freedom
He has a few English interviews out which are fascinating and explain so much what we see around us or for some, in themselves.
Sounds like a book everyone should read!
Sadly, l thought you were going to say pretty much what you said, Shimmering Light. True conservatism…say from around the 1950s.Yes? You’d like that time back again?
l hear a lot about Christain values, but l dont see much in action. People hold up a bible and complain about what ‘other’ people choose to do. They talk about freedoms but only for some… l dont care about race, as l said before, l care about character. l am not for turning back the clock.(Unions are pretty good at securing fair wages and safety on the job. Your rhetoric ‘the unions holding the country hostage’ Tory speak. Do you mean ‘those’ good old days? Are you sure you arent ‘a slipped back a bit and not feeling as special as you once did ‘Middleclass aspirant’. Do you think you are the real victim? What percentage of the population are your target groups?) l never believed in ‘the good old days’…issues relating to victimhood and failure of intergration as you pointed out– l lay at your feet. l think the attitudes you express cause these problems…not the other way around. These are the views that create division. But l do agree with you about lack of resources…or badly directed resources. It is interesting you you choose to name as a ‘behind the curtain string puller’. Enviromentists. Not the build and make and pollute like there is so tommorrow good Olde Boys, who dont want to pay tax and dont because they can afford the best tax lawyers. Personally, l like a National Health system for all–not a health system for some.
Wasnt there some resolution recently, made about rich countries supporting poor countries dealing with rising seas…?
Would you call that made up unfair advantage?
We will have to agree to disagree on these matters. We dont have much common ground, but we have aired our views at least and there is no blood on the floor.
Sorry, that (above) was a reply to Shimmering Light’. No more from me re this topic.
Thank you for the civil exchange, Dianne, it’s truly rare the moment politics are involved.
I agree with that, Shimmering Light and l thank you too.
I thought I was the only one! Wow this is eye opening – post and all the comments.
So now: How to propel myself back into the world?
(I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna!)
(But I know I gotta.)
Guess that is what Uranus squaring my Moon is trying to tell me. I think I will use the movement of Pluto into Aquarius to make a move. Drafting Pluto ha!
This is a good question. It’s going to be quite hard. I am a hold out, but currently investigating the best way to delete my forum. I will probably have this done, end of day.
It’s a sign of the times and the times are moving very quickly = this is a fact. People and things, here today, gone tomorrow.
I truly hope not! It would be very sad to lose touch with all the people here we’ve grown to care about. This venue is a perfect example of how anyone can help and share information and lend support to others without the limitations of actual physical interaction.
I agree.
It was an honor and a privilege to know you, Warped, and all the others (far too many to name), through the EE forum… I don’t quite know how to express my gratitude to Elsa for all of the support that she provided over the years in that space, but we all know the forum was a labor of love… so all I can do right now is accept that it’s the end of an era. <3
Thank you Cocopeaches, I feel the same about you and Elsa and so many others here who have enriched my life and taught me so much over the years. Let’s not give up quite yet! But if we must, I’m Wondering if we could move ourselves to a FB or Reddit page, creating a group and accounts using our EE names?
I’m glad to see that the forum is back up again! Communicating here on Elsa’s forum will always be my preference. The idea of a social media spin off group doesn’t appeal to me personally, and I definitely don’t want to do anything that would take away from or compete with this site, but I would be more than happy to share my email address with you if Elsa doesn’t mind facilitating that process.
I agree, no spin off could adequately compensate — even private FB groups get censored for absurd reasons. And certainly none would be formed to compete. Perhaps all interested can do a facilitated contact info exchange IF the end ever appears to be near, though I hope it won’t!
and yet, LOOK — and not just here — many social media conversations do go deep, long, questioning, supporting, finding these small temporary communities that feel like people talking and being together to supply those human needs for stimulation and belonging (maybe part of the Neptune in Pisces social reimagining?)
At first, I attributed this to t.Pluto/Saturn conjunction opposing my Mercury. Of course there would be no easy conversation under that! And it was pretty well stifled for at least a couple of years, losing friends in the process. But now that’s moved a bit out of orb and hearing now from many others and watching cancel culture decimate any trace of nuance from online discussion and censor anything remotely “triggering”, it’s just a different world now. People are too scared.
Thankfully, I finally found a niche online and can speak freely within that. But for how long? I don’t imagine much under our govt now having control of the internet. Next year’s election is going to be a bloodbath and I expect “fact-checking” by foreign entities to hit epic proportions.
i think the pandemic forced a massive social reset that we are collectively still adapting to…