Newer People Outreach Idea

ReallyRiver wrote:

Nami wrote: Truth be told, I was thinking about leaving this place due to all of the issues I've seen in my short time here. Steamboat28 (my roommate who introduced me to this place to begin with) advised me to not let the recent issues keep me from improving myself. I thought it was good advice. I just thought I'd share it.

I guess what I've been thinking is, couldn't I do some of this learning on my own... Thereby bettering myself and avoiding this mess.

If learn more here... but right now it feels like, at what cost?

Even knights and apprentices I'd considered personal friends seem unavailable.

Just a couple of thoughts on your post. The first is that I am available if you wish to talk. I generally can get back within a day or less. This next week and a half most definitely less as I am off from school. The second is that there are many good resources here and a lot of good examples of how to and how not to put the training into practice. It is one thing to read the material on your own. It is another to ping it off others and test the tenets when things are less than ideal. Just my two cents and know that you have support if you need or want it.

ReallyRiver wrote: As a new person at the Temple, the recent and public unrest is very unnerving. I've been tempted to leave, to do only the IP with no social or personal stuff, to pester people with questions when it's obvious they are trying to take care of the things... I've gone from hating the idea of novice-only forum to kinda hoping for one.

Dear River, even a new Novice can have a great impact on the Temple. And you just did. :blush: Thank you for doing what you do!!

River, I too apologize that circumstances have made you and others feel this way. If I wasn't trying to do fifty other things, I would spend as much time as I could informing people of what is happening at the top. Many of us privy to inside information have the same complaints about ourselves. We don't communicate well enough, even at the highest levels. We recognize this and we are working on it.

There are dedicated Jedi here who genuinely want to improve themselves and improve this Temple. We don't always agree, and sometimes outside circumstance make the situations even worse. Despite our best efforts to remain calm and focused on the tasks at hand, sometimes forum threads and chats spread like wildfire and we find ourselves catching up to the rumors and gossip. Once emotions get heated, things get said and done that can't be taken back and it can cause fear and damage. It isn't ideal, and we understand that.

What I take from all of the recent conflict and issues here is that we have a lot of people who really care about this place. There are a lot of Jedi pouring time, effort, and love into making this place the spiritual home we want it to be. We each have our own idea of what that is, and so we bump heads occasionally, but that is because we care. That isn't to say that there isn't the occasional ne'er-do-well that wants to stir up trouble, but the vast majority of people here are caring and compassionate people who just want to be better.

And that is what we are trying to do right now. Get better. It is hard work and it is rough sometimes. Mistakes will be made and emotions will flare. We will never be perfect, but we can always keep trying. These words may do very little to assuage the fear and confusion happening here, but they are the truth as I see it. Please, River, and anyone else reading this, reach out to whomever will listen and let your concerns be known.

Chaos, yet Harmony.

I'm still a Novice, but I've been here a while now, I joined during 'the force awakens' wave. For a while I just worked on the IP and only participated in forums that I was interested in. Over time people do reach out. The IP team checks in every now and then, and people in general are friendly on here. People do read the journals (not just the IP team), and will reach out and say hello.

If you find topics in the forums that interest you and participate with them, you can normally ignore the drama as it tends to stay isolated to it's given topic. You can normally chat with others doing the IP as well, they tend to like to bounce ideas off on another and develop sub communities, ultimately merging with the main community once they move up. But they still keep their circle together much like a group of friends moving into high school together.

Maybe I'm just too sensitive. Or too new. Or too personally unbalanced. Or too greedy. Or too entitled. Or too socially awkward.

Maybe, in my secret heart of supremely conceited hearts, I feel like this is my final proof that everything I touch, rots.

ReallyRiver wrote: Maybe I'm just too sensitive. Or too new. Or too personally unbalanced. Or too greedy. Or too entitled. Or too socially awkward.

Maybe, in my secret heart of supremely conceited hearts, I feel like this is my final proof that everything I touch, rots.

Not at all. I'm curious about what there is to be afraid of myself.

ReallyRiver wrote: Maybe I'm just too sensitive. Or too new. Or too personally unbalanced. Or too greedy. Or too entitled. Or too socially awkward.

Maybe, in my secret heart of supremely conceited hearts, I feel like this is my final proof that everything I touch, rots.

Honestly, I probably would've left if it weren't for Steamboat. I understand how you feel.

Br. John wrote: Not at all. I'm curious about what there is to be afraid of myself.

People stronger and better than me losing their center.
A place I had such hopes for and belief in, reminding me that nothing is solid or trustworthy.
People I care about being similarly painfully disillusioned.

Fear is selfish. All fear is selfish. No excuse, sir.

What makes one better or worse than you? How can someone being compared? Selfish can be good, so can sharing. :blush: Each piece has its part in this world.. Nothing is 100% solid or 100% trustworthy. Not here, not there, nowhere. :lol: If people are strong, play smart. You have people who care about you, you can always PM me or someone else. Selfish is not especially a wrong thing, some selfish acts can aid other people. :blush:

My inbox is open River, I've always made time for you if I was on site and not incredibly busy...

I'm not going to lie to you, the Temple exists on shaky ground. This mess is years in the making, years. It was bound to happen sooner or later. It is likely to get worse before it gets better, but that doesn't necessarily mean it won't...

Growth seldom occurs without a considerable amount of pain/suffering. People need to know business cannot be continued like it has in the past...

It's high time for Jedi to start following that thing called the doctrine, or something close to it. We can no longer act contrary to teachings of the Jedi, and continue calling ourselves Jedi if we wish to be looked upon as genuine...