L/J as therapy

[trixtah]

Well, not really, but I've read some fairly vehement assertions lately that L/J should not, under any cirumstances whatsoever, be used for therapy.

I certainly agree with not using it as a substitute for getting proper therapy if you have genuine and long-lasting mental or emotional issues, but what about for those who are generally sane (no laughing in the cheap seats!) and who want a place for community, ventage and feedback? And for the not-so-sane types too, actually - it's a pretty harmless outlet overall, especially if it's used as an adjunct to any real therapy.

I've been feeling horribly homesick/missing my friends these last couple of weeks, and it's partly due to the political climate at the moment. I want to be in a country where I don't need to feel seriously peturbed by whatever the government is doing, and where I actually feel enfranchised. On the more local level, Canberra is feeling more small-townish and arid than usual, and the lack of diversity here is bugging me. It could be a lot worse, since I could be living in some horribly racist right-wing environment, and Canberra really is not like that. Just very white-bread, middle-of-the-road, but that is entirely bearable. You know, I'm the right colour, I have the right job, I speak the right language, I earn the right amount of money. Privilege has its uses.

However, I think one thing that has kept me on a fairly even keel here, compared to my time in London, is that by keeping this journal I'm connected in the virtual sense to a nicely diverse, fellow-thinking and interesting bunch of people. I don't like writing long ranty emails to my friends back home (since most of them are there), because I end up just going WAH! about how much I miss them and the place. Here, I can rant away, I can be as OT as I feel like, no one person has to take up the responsibility of responding, and in fact, no-one at all needs to respond to any individual post, because it's not a synchronous communication form. Of course, if no-one at all seemed interested ever, then perhaps I wouldn't feel quite so supported by this format. :-)

So, you know, yay virtual communities, for keeping my sanity level those few points higher, giving me excellent food for thought, moral support, and for making an appreciable difference to my general feeling of contentment with the world. And yay for those of you who I've gotten to know (better) online and also hang out with in RL, because that really is the best of both worlds.

Comments

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

So, you know, yay virtual communities, for keeping my sanity level those few points higher, giving me excellent food for thought, moral support, and for making an appreciable difference to my general feeling of contentment with the world. And yay for those of you who I've gotten to know (better) online and also hang out with in RL, because that really is the best of both worlds.

I agree. LJ -- or really, my friends on it -- have been really good on all of these counts. I love this format.

I've been feeling horribly homesick/missing my friends these last couple of weeks, and it's partly due to the political climate at the moment. I want to be in a country where I don't need to feel seriously peturbed by whatever the government is doing, and where I actually feel enfranchised

Whatever you do, don't come to the US. Things are pretty sucky here as I'm sure you know.

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Heh, don't worry, living in the US is pretty low on my list of things to do. Although if you shunted the entire west coast down to California (avoiding LA) up a bit, and made it part of Canada, that would be cool. :-)

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

[elevator] Glad to be of ser-vice! [/elevator]

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Hee, I'm now scared to ask for a cup of tea if I should happen to visit you one day... ;-)

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Would you like some toast? A tea-cake?

... muffin??

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

*chortle!*

[msss.livejournal.com]

Egalitarians do just fine in an aristocracy as long as they get to be the autocrats? :-)

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Of course, heh. The alternative is not terribly appealing.

Also, it's funny how the people whose opinions I value have ones that are very similar to mine. What an amazing coincidence!

[cheshire-bitten.livejournal.com]

Come to melbourne, you know you want to.


(we have the best coffee.)

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Evil person. I really do think Melbourne is the funkiest town in Oz, but I have two chickies who might be slightly irritated if I said "Whee! Instant LDR!" Canberra has its faults, but the Cute Babe Factor is high. :-D

It's funny you say that about the coffee (*drool*), because I have heard this, and yet haven't found what I'd call good stuff there yet. It's all bloody vacuum-packed Lavazza/Piazza d'Oro that I've found. Any recommendations?

[cheshire-bitten.livejournal.com]

hmmm. well I am a big fan on ripe, it is up in the dandynongs where I live, do you ever come to melbourne?

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

I don't get to Melbourne nearly as often as I would like. I've been about three times this year, for a few days. One of my g/fs has said that we should definitely visit the Dandenongs one day, especially since I miss GREEN TREES and FERNS, and that would be a nice way to see them. If there's decent coffee, I'm sold.

*google google* Aha, they serve Gravity coffee, which I haven't had the opportunity of trying yet. AT least it's locally roasted and hasn't been sitting in a container ship for 3 months< /geeking>

[cheshire-bitten.livejournal.com]

The food at ripe is sooo good.


And they make mochas with lint chocolate melted in...

[saluqi.livejournal.com]

LJ and my other online spaces definitely help me not feel so alone, especially when it comes to poly stuff. It was nice to have a minor "wtf?" moment in my journal a few days ago and have lots of sane poly responses.

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Yes, the poly thing is a big component of that for me as well, since most of my friends don't grok it and it's hard to vent in a constructive way to them. Sane people, wherever you can find 'em, are bloody treasures.