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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/campfires/item_id/313383-No-longer-invisible
Rated: ASR · Campfire Creative · Other · Opinion · #313383
How can a place with no walls, no roof, not even a floor be so much like a home?
[Introduction]
We have gathered to answer one question.

What is it about "Invalid Item that is so special?

Since its inception on 08-16-01 @ 12:09pm, it has grown beyond all expectations.

Why did this place draw us in the first time, make us come back, make us never want to leave?
It’s always hard to be the first to try to express yourself in this way. I can but try to do our forum justice…

The French have a saying.

‘Je ne sai quoi’

It looses something in the translation, but it essentially means an ‘indefinable quality’.

Every time I log onto Stories.com, my first port of call is my e-mail address. The second, without fail, is the 'We are not invisible forum'. It has this indefinable quality that makes it something special. Everyone who posts there knows that they can be their own person. Can say what they like, to whom they like without being openly judged. We take each other beyond face value. Whether that is because we cannot see their face is arguable by some, but no by me! I prefer to think its because we have become an extended family, and the forum a second home. It has no walls, no roof, hell - it even has no floor. Yet it is a home.

Some have said that Ronda is like the mother of our group. In some respects, that is true. Trying to classify the others into the atomic family is harder though. We all seem to shift our positions in a complex and random dance that is confusing, but beautiful.

We joined this forum because we thought we were invisible.

We now see, and can be seen. We shine like stars in the darkest night. We are there for each other in the good times, and the bad.

WE ARE NOT INVISIBLE. WE ARE A FAMILY!
On September 26th of 2001, I came across
Stories.com and was impressed by it at first.
Within a few days, though I had become very
discouraged without having a clue as to how to
integrate myself into the community. I knew no
one on the site, and I had virtually no hits on my
port.

I was familiarizing myself with the forums when I
cam across the newbie forum. I believe it was
Redboots that had posted a message there beckoning
all those that felt invisible to come on by to a
forum for just such people. That was me, and I
must say that after my first post on this web site
was in that forum and it truly made me feel as
though I was not invisible. I hated stories.com
the first day I was on it, but I stuck with it.
Within just a few days I had so much fun here that
I quit contributing to the other writing web site.
I have to place most of the welcomeness I felt on
Ronda?s forum.
A Non-Existent User
"Invalid Item. It's my home away from home. My home within my home. It's my home even while I'm at work. And if you've been there, you know why.

I stumbled onto Stories.com merely looking for a place to write more than just my thoughts for the day. A place that I could be me and not worry about the next guy being a typical internet pervert.

What I found was a site larger than life. Hundreds of authors with thousands of stories. At first it was a bit overwhelming. I hopped around aimlessly, searching for a place here to fit in. With all these people here, there had to be someone I could connect with.

Then one day, a new forum popped up in the sponsored list and I couldnt resist checking it out. "Invalid Item, that title spoke volumes to me. I had felt invisible nearly all my life. Maybe there'd be somewhere there who felt as I did.

There was. mayacute, the forums' host. How gracious and caring she is. She welcomed each and every visitor with wide open arms. Immediately I knew that this was the place for me.

I stepped lightly in the beginning, still cautious about saying too much. Still worried that I'd once again be ignored, or worse, made to feel unwanted. But that day never came.

Each day brought concern and compassion from not only Ronda, but from those that became regulars. They laughed and cried and eventually I made it a habit to join in.

We became family there. Each of us contributing in different ways, with different views and opinions. Each of us looking forward to seeing everybody else, every day.

Now, that the forum has reached well over 6,5oo posts, it feels more like home than ever. If I am upset, there I can find comfort. If I am angry, there I will find a sense of calm. And when I just need a hug, they are plenty abundant in "Invalid Item.

We've grown with each other, we've learned about each other. When one of our own was hurting and in pain, we came together as a group and gave our love and support, till that pain was gone. Mostly, we truly and honestly have come to care about each other. It's my first stop when I log on, sometimes even before I check my email.

So to all of you who have made that place home for me, thank you. For those that I have come to call family, I love you guys. And for those of you who are wondering what it's all about, come on over to "Invalid Item and see for yourself!

We are not invisble, because we are family.
A Non-Existent User
I was a newie myself when I first came across "Invalid Item. Lost, a stranger in an even stranger land, I wondered about, trying to find those who like myself were searching for something that was missing from life. Yes we're all writers and this sets up apart just in that we try to put into words the feelings and ideas that others just muse over on any given day. But there are those among us that have the need to reach out and embrace and draw to themselves others of their kind, and I have found that Ronda is one such person. In her attempts to meet others who felt lost and dismayed by the throngs of stories.com, she gathered us up out of the massive voids that one can wander in. And gave us a place to focus and find the caring words of others who felt much the same confussion and rejection that can come from being new and unknown. She has shown by example that taking a chance on each other is worth the time it takes to let each other know that we are not alone in our efforts to make this trek through life. That no one ever need be along and that "Invalid Item

wordsy
A Non-Existent User
I came to Stories.com hurting and rejected. When I first drifted into "Invalid Item, I had basically been kicked out of the last online "family" I had come to trust. I was angry, seething, self-doubting, and lonely. But I didn't trust this place either. If it wasn't my age, it was my beliefs, or my words, or something about me that made everyone eventually my enemy: this, at least, was my mindset.

Still, I took the risk.

I was initially surprised by the warm responses the forum had to offer and the quick friendliness of the members. I hesitated, almost left a few times, sensitive to even the amount of times I was responded to. But with steps, I found myself soon immersed in the love and care the forum had to offer, with friends so close I consider them siblings.

I must agree with FM - 1 Writer to rule them all -- there is some indescribable quality to "Invalid Item that somehow makes it always a family, always a home, no matter who comes in and who goes. The forum has taught me so much about love, caring, and friendship -- and it will ALWAYS be my home.

© Copyright 2001 FM - 1 Writer to rule them all, Elwood∞, xx-xx, wordsy, Wild-Eyes Tamar, (known as GROUP).
All rights reserved.
GROUP has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
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