One Woman's Perspective

By now, most of you are aware I was never a chatter at LIT or a member of the former Lit Girl's Room. In some respects that made me seem to be an outsider. I was, however, a longtime observer and familiar with both. This awareness gave me an advantage prior to my arrival in that I had gained considerable insight into and grown fond of each of you. Although requested to join the blog a number of times, I turned it down, opting instead to just pop by for daily doses of free entertainment.

Why? Because as owner of two well established websites for over a decade, I knew firsthand it is bloody hard work without any pay and requires immense dedication, no matter what size community you run. Mine were quite large, with 300 members on one and over 500 on the other. I was, quite frankly, exhausted, and on vacation from it all. When I finally did commit to becoming a contributor here, I didn't ask myself, “What can this blog do for me?” I asked myself, “What can I do for this blog?”

For seven months I’ve invested a considerable amount of time and effort trying to be an asset in as many ways possible, whether in the capacity as friend, contributor, or administrator. I made wonderful friends and watched the blog blossom, but of late find I’m now bearing witness to what appears to be a definitive downhill slide to its demise. Because I genuinely care and don’t wish to see that happen, I’m embarking on what I consider to be a last ditch personal effort to prevent that.

There is nothing sadder than seeing a once thriving community dwindle down to nothing or just helplessly stand by and watch it die. I eventually lost both of my communities because I chose to help my lover fight cancer for what I could not predict at the time would end up being five years. Both sites suffered from leadership neglect, although loyal moderators and members did try to make up for that absence and I’m proud to say they were successful for quite some time.

Off to your right is a list of our 25 contributors. Unfortunately, only six are active with any type of regularity. Eight were being fairly consistent not so long ago. Three of those eight respectfully let us know in advance when and why they would not be able to post for a brief time. Six to eight out of 25 indicates a majority are not being as supportive of Saffron, each other, or the blog as they could be. I can’t make anyone care, but if you already do, please show it more tangibly.

I appeal to those members who have not been active for many months to step up to the plate and uphold your commitment. Even if you can only contribute minimally or just in particular areas, please do. If you are only free on certain days of the week, we can set up a rotational schedule or discuss other logical solutions. Even limited participation is better than none, and nobody on this blog is of any less importance contribution-wise. We all have the ability to teach others and to continue learning through our interactions of shared opinions, knowledge, experiences, and hard earned wisdom.

If you have particular ideas or certain things you would like to see covered in the future, please voice this. If someone is working on a topic near and dear to your heart, talk to them. At least open the lines of communication, because there may well be some things you know about that they don’t, which might further strengthen their article or series for the greater good.

Whether active or not via making posts, you could be supportive giving feedback to fellow member’s contributions. Without feedback, they have no way of knowing whether you even read or listened to whatever they might have spent hours, or days, or weeks, researching and creating for you. Feedback provides a definitive means by which to gauge what it is people like or don’t like, what they prefer most, or don't prefer over other things.

Daily hits on the blog are statistical proof considerable interest exists, but the lack of internal participation to that ratio is glaring. If you would respond to at least two other posts each time you leave one, it could make a considerable difference. If you read and enjoy others posts, but aren’t keen on posting any yourself, please contribute a few thoughts about what they provide.

We each have real lives and real life commitments. Some may contribute more than others by way of posts or comments but that doesn't mean they have more time on their hands or nothing better to do. It's evidence they care enough that they’re willing to devote the extra energy required attempting to make up for someone else’s temporary, not permanent, absence. I'd love to see more teamwork in our community.

The Girl's Coffee Shop is a beautiful place. But like a garden, it must be tended to properly for it to thrive and survive between floods and drought. We have the power to make it more enjoyable, balanced, and fair by collectively pulling our own individual weight. Life itself and our ability to touch and be touched by others is too fragile to be taken for granted.

I came here because I admired and respected what Saffron expressed she and Jess wanted to do and got caught up in that same dream. After having made my own come true, I knew exactly what that was like, therefore tried wholeheartedly to help her nurture it in the aftermath of some ugly online ills resulting in the past. But her steadfast staples and high hopes simply aren’t enough and mine seem ineffective too. People have very little incentive to participate if it appears their contributions hold no meaning to anyone. That is when they will start disappearing.

I’d like to encourage, inspire, and thank the many friends, contributors, and readers who are faithfully consistent. You've each enhanced my life in more ways than I can adequately express. I appreciate every ounce of your efforts and have enjoyed getting to know you in a multitude of ways through unique individual passions, educational and creative ventures, shared joys and laughter, fun bouts of sexual banter, serious subjects, silly subjects, and even touching tears.