[pct-l] Of list nastiness..

[Paul Magnanti]

Once a week, I have been leading "social hikes" (casual pace, open to all) at the local foot hills. After work, 3-4 miles. A chance to enjoy the warmer weather, get some exercise and and experience nature in a subtle way.

It is amazing. Day by day, spring is coming.

The grass is starting to turn green. The streams are rushing with a surge of snow melt from the high country. I've even seen my first wild flowers of the season: wild geraniums, pasque flowers and sand lilies. 

The sun sets on the mountains in the high country..beckoning and promising of journeys I want to take this summer.  I often  see deer grazing in the valley. Occasionally a fox will stroll by the trail. I'll even hear a coyote yip and call out every so often.

On my solo jaunts, also done during the week, the above is noticed as well. My senses are heightened. My pace is quicker. I feel my heart beat as I go up the steep trail and my sweat cooling me off as I get back to my truck. I breathe deeply and have a feeling of well being that is partly from endorphins, partly from again experiencing nature but mostly because I am grateful for where I live , what I have done, what I hope to do in the future.

Life is good. Life continues to get better.

Tonight, I was honored to again spend the evening with my friends for a Seder supper.  It does not matter what my religious or ethnic background  may be; I broke bread with people who are my extended family. I shared a tradition with them that goes back countless generations and will continue long after I have left this earth.  By sharing their traditions with me, their traditions become mine as well. There is something wonderful about any holiday dinner. The way that the food connects you to past holidays spent, the conversation, the feeling of love that happens when you are with people you care about and that  care about you in return.

Life is good. Life continues to get better.


What does all the above have to do with the recent list nastiness?

I find when my life is good, I want to share the joy. That it is hard for me to be negative.  

When life is good and I find joy in the everyday, it is hard to get negative on an e-mail list of all places. 

Life is good. Take a stroll, share a meal with loved ones: Bring that joy to not only this list, but all that you do.

If your life is rewarding, if you find life to be full of joy and fill of wonderful experiences, than it should be hard to be negative.  If anything, it should be hard to  NOT be overly positive! 

So I wonder, for people who all share a love and joy of the outdoors, and presumably have this love and joy in our daily lives as well, why all the negativity?
 
 IT is an e-mail list people. A community of sorts. It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable.

We may not be able to break bread in person, but we are essentially doing it online. I don't get nasty with people at the table.  (Not that I won't argue; as anyone who seen the Magnanti clan at dinner on a Sunday can attest!) We may have differences in opinion, but there is no reason to sling mud.  Difference of opinion is good. Difference of opinion is healthy. Personal attacks aren't.

Perhaps I am being naive. Perhaps I am being too genteel (Can a sarcastic, Northeast transplant truly be genteel? :D)..

But I find life is too good to be negative.

Your opinions may differ.