Can you hear me now?

Wow! So today I was kicked off someone's blog. THAT'S never happened before. We all know I'm just about inane silly links and cute fuzzy kittens. It's rare that I will enter into a political dialog here in blog-land but when I do, I tend to choose my words carefully and when I ask questions, it usually because I really don't know the answer, not because I am baiting. I don't enjoy angry and pointless debates. It's a painful reminder to me how the written word can be so misconstrued, twisted, to fit someone else's agenda.

Yet, I found myself drawn right into it... like an idiot. I found myself getting angry about something that, in the big picture, is SO not worth getting angry about. I wasted a good 45 minutes of my life fuming over someone else's misinterpretation of my words.

Long long ago in a galaxy far far away, I used to manage a rather large, successful and well known online community. I am familiar with flamers and baiters and red-herring tactics. Trying to keep the peace on certain boards or in certain chat rooms was like trying to jump rope with an elephant. Sure there's a chance that it might happen someday, but toes will be stepped on. And it's gonna hurt.

But guess what? I don't have to do that anymore!

So with that said, I offer this advice (mostly to me) ... In this highly emotionally charged war time, if you get angry at someone, or if you feel that you've been personally attacked, just take a breath and walk away. Revisit it in an hour. Try reading it from another perspective before responding. Maybe ask someone else you know to check it out and see if they read it the same way. It's so easy to get caught up in our own little world and respond in a vacuum. Remember... always send the third draft and count to ten before you send. I think I'll stay out of it all for a while. And now...

Fuzzy Kittens!

Don't we all feel a little better now? I know I do!