• NeubergCrowley
    5
    Dear All,

    It's not characteristic of me to create a thread about...me...but I just wanted to give a shout out to the all the excellent people I know from the previous Philosophy Forum, how lovely it is to see so many people I remember from years ago, and to reintroduce myself to the gang!

    The intervening years have felt like a lifetime. What caused me to leave had nothing to do with the previous forum but had everything to do with what was going on in my life. Without further ado, I'll briefly go over some of the events/thoughts/feelings that have kept me away so long:

    - I had a job that was so stressful and anxiety-inducing that it was eroding my health. After chugging away for some time I reconnected with an acquaintance who is a contemporary (late 40's) who had suffered a heart attack due to work stress. I decided then that I needed to get out. Material wealth and professional success have never really meant all that much to me- they can in fact eat my shit. Friends, health, my dogs, my husband, family, etc. are what are important to me. I put in my resignation and was greatly flattered by the upper management chain (all the way up to the CIO) begging me to stay with the (law)firm in some capacity- that they would help me find a new position. I am truly grateful and fortunate to now be in a position where I make a solidly upper-middle-class income which does not require me to devote all my life energy to it, nor does it define me as a human being, nor is it the source of my worth (such as it is) to others and the world.

    - One of my greatest inspirations and heroes- my great-aunt Barbara Knudson (nee Lagerstedt...we're just slightly Scandinavian) passed. http://www.startribune.com/obituary-u-scholar-barbara-knudson-worked-for-global-change/292530941/

    - Much of the past year has been under the shadow of my father's end-of-life care and deteriorating cognitive state. Mom's in better shape but is nearly 80 so this rather unpleasant phase of life where the people who raised me or were around me as a child are disappearing one by one. I know this happens to everyone, there's nothing unique or special about it, but we each have our own personal experience of it and, needless to say, I'm not a fan.

    - My own cognitive dissonance and fundamental immaturity about feeling and thinking like I'm in my 20's but in reality am in my late 40's and I have no image in my own head of being a man my age.

    - Continuation of my lifelong struggles with depression, exacerbated by life giving me more things to be depressed about (aka, the points above).

    - I got married! Actually, something far more momentous happened- my country (the U.S.) ALLOWED me to get married and I took advantage of it. Having the right to get married is just another source of cognitive dissonance- it was something I did not anticipate. We did not jump at marriage immediately as it became available because I have mixed feelings about it as an institution, but our wedding was precipitated by Trump's election. We wanted to add at least a level of security to our lives which once again felt so under attack. So far we've done the whole court house deal but we'll be having a dinner for our extended family in May/June and then a honeymoon in Amsterdam and Vienna later on this year!

    - Given so many practical, pragmatic real world concerns I have had little time or desire for philosophical speculation though I found myself reading a little Hilary Putnam recently so perhaps some of the old juices are flowing again.

    I have this urge to thank you all because I'm so happy to see so many familiar 'faces'. I'm not sure how much I'll be present here - I'm rather a fickle, moody sort - but I did want to say 'hello' again to those who remember me. I hope you're all doing well :-)
  • Shawn
    13.3k
    Welcome back.

    Hope you can post some threads on current issues as this place has become very political or rather dominated by politics due to jumbling all threads on the front page.
  • Jamal
    9.8k
    Welcome NC, good to see you again. Congratulations, and may your juices flow in this direction. :)

    Quit yer whining Q. You do realize that a large number of PF members--me, for instance--only ever used the "Latest Posts" page on the old PF, which is pretty much what we have here?
  • ernestm
    1k
    condolences on your loss, and wishing you joy in your marriage.
  • unenlightened
    9.2k
    How dare you get on with your life and ignore us for so long! But we'll forgive you, because we're so filo sophical.
  • Mongrel
    3k
    Hi dude! Best wishes!
  • Baden
    16.4k
    Welcome! Fáilte! Get stuck in.
  • ArguingWAristotleTiff
    5k
    Welcome Home NeubergCrowley! It is good to read you and what life has been sending your way. It sounds like you are making the best of it by knowing the lows while appreciating the highs~
    Congratulations on your marriage and I wish you many, many years of love and laughter~
    Warmest wishes,
    Tiff
  • NeubergCrowley
    5
    Thank you all for the welcome back - it's truly a pleasure to see so much of the old community here. I'm assuming most everyone has retained their old names (and I'm just smart enough to deduce that 'sittinwithsocrates' = 'arguingwitharistotle')(?). Has anyone undergone a full 'namelift' and completely changed from the old forum?
  • Jamal
    9.8k
    The only one I can think of who changed his name is @Michael, who used to have the official seal of awesomeness.
  • Ciceronianus
    3k
    Just to be clear, I was ciceronianus. I am Ciceronianus the White.
  • NeubergCrowley
    5
    Thank you for the 'cheatsheet', Cic, I would have never caught on by myself! X-)

    Good to see you again, sir!
  • BC
    13.6k
    You're sort of a special person, since we've actually met face to face. Glad things are going well for you. I am about the same (opinions vary about whether that is good or bad...) But... that was a long time ago that the old-PF member from UK came through Minneapolis with the van, his father, and the destination of South Africa. Can't remember his name or handle. Too bad they did't just settle here.
  • NeubergCrowley
    5
    Yup, that was really fun, BCrank! It was DuctTape (Ivan) who came to visit us. I got a couple of messages from him on the old forum but he never responded to my responses so I'm not sure he got them. Great to see you again as well!
  • S
    11.7k
    Welcome back, NeubergCrowley.
  • TimeLine
    2.7k
    Having the right to get married is just another source of cognitive dissonance- it was something I did not anticipate.NeubergCrowley

    Ah, come on, some traditions are nice if you've found your match. As said by Blackadder:

    "And don't forget, sir, that the modern Church smiles on roaring and gorging within wedlock, and indeed rogering is keenly encouraged."

    (L)
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