My first dailykos diary was on January 17, 2004. This is my 500th (although if you go through my user page you will only find 498 since I deleted two about a month ago). I am using this diary to offer a very few thought about what participating here at dailykos means to me. I would encourage others if so inclined to offer their own thoughts on what dailykos means in the comments.
I got curious a month ago about how many diaries I had actually written here. I began exploring all that I had written over the 2+ years, and also realized i was approaching this milestone. As I did for my 60th birthday, I decided the milestone warranted some reflection.
I began posting here after having heard about the site while volunteering for Dean in NH over Thanksgiving weekend 2003. I registered, began posting comments, and someone suggested I repost one as a diary: to that point I had not realized I could post a diary. I knew nothing about tip jars. And most of my diaries got little play.
Over time I began occasionally posting about education, and got a response to what I put up. That's dangerous, because it encouraged me to post more. I would also periodically post on things I had read - books, articles, op eds. The process of writing fairly regularly seemed to improve both my thinking and my writing.
Then people began to organized get-togethers. The first to which I went was organized by Maura Keaney, and included among others Stirling Newberry. Periodically I or someone else would realize that we lived close enough to one another to physically get together, so we did. And the sense of belonging to a community increased.
I am fortunate to live in a major metropolitan area that includes a fair number of people whose politics and concerns largely overlap my own. I have come to know electronically people at dailykos who do not have such support readily available, who may feel quite isolated politically. This site provides a place for them to safely (usually) explore their ideas and exchange with others. I am honored to have been a part of that, especially but not exclusively with respect to education. I value the opportunity to become friends with people from different parts of the country. Again, one advantage of living in the DC metro area has been that many people pass through here, and I have had the occasion to have get-togethers with out-of-town kossacks who are in my neighborhood. That has extended the sense of community. Being able to put a face to a screen name has almost always been something that brightens up my day.
dailykos has enabled me to reconnect with people I had previously known. Several of my college classmates post here on occasion, and others I have known - in high school, college, or through other networks - have either recognized me or I have recognized them and as a result we have reconnected. Sometimes the reconnection is indirect: someone posts about the Dems newly elected to the Tucson City Council and I recognize the name of an old acquaintance - Nina Trasoff - am able to track her down on the web and reconnect.
I have had my own perceptions expanded and sharpened, my understanding deepened, my thinking challenged, by participating here. My participation has been a major part of the reflective process I underwent the past several years, most notably in the 12 months ending with my 60th birthday on May 23.
Reading the diaries and comments of others has on occasion sent me off on major efforts of research and exploration of topics I had not known, or for which I thought I remembered something of value. Things that were before isolated facts have often thus been put into a more meaningful context. As a teacher I find that I have been provided much information useful in my instruction, and I hope that I have given back as I have received.
Counting diaries probably seems a silly thing to do. Perhaps. But one could note that the number of diaries one has produced represents a measure of one's effort, while the number of birthdays one celebrates might merely demonstrate one's ability to hang on to life.
I have reread every diary I have posted here. although not all recently. There are some that I probably never should have been posted. There were others that did not stand the test of time, and are not worth revisiting. To my surprise, there are others that still retain a certain kind of power, an ability to touch me or to touch others. The number of comments or recommends received is not always the measure of the power and effectiveness of a diary, although as I have become better known in this community the reactions of my fellows is something that is one important indicator of the worth of what I have offered.
Perhaps the greatest value I have received from posting 500 diaries is the conversations that ensue. I usually monitor what I post and am quite willing to engage in conversation. Often it is in the exchanges down thread that I am most able to clarify my thinking, to express more cogently ideas that might matter. And certainly it is both an honor and somewhat humbling to encounter passionate responses from others engendered or provoked by what I have written.
I am grateful that this community has been willing to put up with my prolixity over the past several years. If I had not known before, I found out at yearlykos the impact my writing could have. As the shy person that I am, that has meant a lot to me - it has given me a sense of connection that has greatly enriched me, and for which I remain exceedingly grateful and humbled.
My life does not revolve around my participation at dailykos, but it would have been greatly impoverished by comparison had I not been here as an active participant. Through dailykos I have come to know several outstanding public officials and a number of others seeking to join them in public service. I have come to appreciate the insights and expertise of others who post here on a regular basis. And I have experienced the wonderful insights of some who only post comments, sharing their insights with those of us who have stimulated them.
This is my 500th dailykos diary. In it I have shared a little of what that experience has meant to me. I hope you will share some of yours in the comments.
It is my 500th diary. It will not be my last.