I am not chronically online (prayer. mantra. reminder.)

[witchpoetdreamer]

This week, I've managed to stay offline for the most part. Even when posting here, I've mainly wrote on Obsidian first and copy pasted, so my time on the website have been minimal. I've responded to most people's comments, but I haven't been as present to read and comment on their own posts. Which I'm learning isn't such a bad thing either. Sometimes, being in a community means knowing others exist in the same neighbourhood even when we don't actively seek out each other. It's something I have to remind myself often. Community takes time to build, and that's okay. Community won't disappear if I don't read and comment on every single posts for a week or so. I will not develop fomo over missing some people's posts. Missing posts is not the end of the world. If I'm okay with other people not reading and commenting on every one of my posts, then they are most likely okay with me doing the same. Because when they do, I am just happy to say hello back and exchange with them then, so surely they feel the same way. And if they don't, maybe we are just not a good fit for each other, and that is okay too.

Community takes time. I do not have to be chronically online to maintain it. I can be present just once in a while, write and respond when I can, and it's okay. It's easy to fall back into familiar patterns, familiar pressure to exist in online spaces daily or else. An "or else" that implies erasure, disappearance of the self, a fallen tree no one can hear. But the tree is still there. The tree still stands. The tree exists even if no one perceives it.

(I will not disappoint the tree for not seeing it. The tree still exists. The tree does not need me. The tree is okay. Why is my brain like that?)

Comments

[singedsun]

I mostly did the same thing this weekend. I'm still not 100% after whatever illness I had last week so I really tried to take it easy as possible this weekend. I think your feelings on reading/writing and community mirror my own.

[clairaudient]

I genuinely think you are developing a healthy way to view that, and you can be proud of yourself for this :)! I am proud of you, too. Please don't overwhelm yourself, that is to say. If you do read something from me and you are unsure how I got certain conclusions or what happened in the meantime, you are also free to ask :). I mean it; I know I write a lot, and it certainly can be overwhelming and I don't expect anybody to read everything, so that's the least I can do. :)

[annofowlshire]

I disappear for weeks and months (and in the LJ times even years) at a time. The community may shift but it's still here and it's not demanding.

Some people do have trouble with that--they can't exist in a vacuum of not getting comments or feeling like they're not on top of their reading list--but there's lots of social media sites for them :) I'we endured with DW because it's quiet and patient.

[oneinist]

Community takes time. I do not have to be chronically online to maintain it. I can be present just once in a while, write and respond when I can, and it's okay. It's easy to fall back into familiar patterns, familiar pressure to exist in online spaces daily or else. An "or else" that implies erasure, disappearance of the self, a fallen tree no one can hear. But the tree is still there. The tree still stands. The tree exists even if no one perceives it.

I keep having to remind myself of exactly this.

[solenne]

Sometimes, being in a community means knowing others exist in the same neighbourhood even when we don't actively seek out each other.

Very true, and something I had to learn once I moved to uni. I guess it's a part of growing up, but I have to keep relearning it from time to time.

[fabiadrake]

Yes. Periodically disappearing offline is good for us.

<33

[periphona]

If it helps any, I can assure you that I personally do not expect anyone to read or comment on all of my entries. 🫂 As you suspect, I think most people on Dreamwidth are like that. Most of us are adults navigating very adult lives; we can't really be "online" in the same way we could've been as teenagers.

I hope you enjoyed your offline time! It's important to have that.