General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)I've been fretting for a few hours, so I'm going to go ahead and post my thoughts. [View all]
Mods, feel free to lock or delete if you feel this is disruptive.
I don't mean it to be, but I'll take the hide if you see fit.
This is a statement about how I feel our DU community functions, at its best.
I feel we are a very loving. compassionate community. Just look at all the love we're sharing this week!
We care about each other. This is a safe space (usually) for us to share all kinds of things from the global to the personal.
It's always been that way, and I've been here since the beginning. (I only lurked the first year, joined in 2002).
Late last night, a DUer had a very traumatic experience, and posted about it here.
I won't repeat the details, but some of them were very grisly and upsetting.
He closed his OP by saying he needed to talk about it.
That's what humans need to do when they are traumatized, they need their fellow humans to listen and empathize, and sometimes to share their own stories to show they understand.
He did place a "graphic" warning in his thread title. There were no images.
The overwhelming response overnight was one of compassion and understanding.
I had done a similar type of post YEARS ago, when a neighbor of mine died in a house fire, and I experienced her last breaths as she lay on the sidewalk. I was traumatized. The DU community showed me nothing but love and compassion.
I was surprised and saddened to find this morning a few holier-than-thous took the DUer to task for posting about his experience.
Please note that no juries nor mods nor admins had seen fit to "discipline" his thread.
I was busy typing a reply to the OP that he had nothing to apologize for, when he deleted his thread. If that was his choice, then I will respect that. I just hope he did not feel shamed into it.
I was once deeply shamed (before we had the option to delete our own threads) over posting about one of my miscarriages here. Maybe it was oversharing, but again, I was traumatized, and looking for compassion. All it took was one DUer (I don't think she's here anymore), to make me feel foolish and self-hating. Everyone else reached out with loving care.
I hope in this case, the OP knows how much I respect and honor him for his bravery under horrible circumstances, and that he should not feel shamed.
That is all.
With love,
Coventina