Adriaan; you didn't miss anything, it wasn't a picture, just text. And it was something I would normally have addressed in a private email, these circumstances being a bit extraordinary.
Jordan;
Only he can answer that. But my guess might be, as is frequently the case with all of us, that it was an emotional reaction to environmental factors as perceived in one's mind at a certain point in time within the greater context of the flow of events within one's life.
LG indicated at one point that he was only reading threads that he had started; so it would appear to be that his experience of the group dynamic was limited to just a few threads and to discussions that he himself had initiated.
When viewed within the context of the tenor of discussion of the group threads taken as a whole, the discourse of these few threads can be seen to be a bit out of the ordinary. When viewed within the scope of the posting guidelines, and again therein within context of the group as a whole, these threads can be seen by some at times as a bit problematic.
It is difficult to point to any one or two posts or threads, but from my perspective as moderator, a troublesome dynamic had been unfolding and I was concerned for the group as a whole, for the members individually, and for LG.
I felt, again in my role as moderator, compelled to respond to the flow of events, as I perceived them to be unfolding, with my post #4595 in
this thread. Immediately after that, and again responding to events as they were unfolding, I felt compelled to write my post #4596 in
this thread. However, it was after my first post and before my second post that LG posted his leaving message. I suppose it could be reasonably presumed that within the context of events as LG perceived them, my first post may have been influential in his decision to leave.
It was not my intention to cause him to leave. Indeed, I perceive my path as one of helping people, of learning how to help people, of not harming others, and learning how to not harm others, to the best of my limited abilities given where I am at this point in time. I think one could read back through all of LG's posts, and the threads within which they were posted, and perhaps conclude that I did not act appropriately or did not act with sufficient skill. However, I acted within the context of my perceptions of events and to the extent of my ability given where I was at that particular point in time.
It is worrisome when members leave under such circumstances. It hasn't happened often. Indeed, events similar to these have been very rare. We don't know what may be happening in someone's life apart from information posted in various threads. We don't know if someone is facing significant health problems, economic problems, family problems, etc. All of us suffer; yet none of us can know the extent to which others suffer. Given that, this forum should be a place of refuge; a place where people can come and exchange ideas in a safe and warm environment. So when someone leaves this place in circumstances such as these, I find it a bit worrisome. I don't want this place to cause people any more suffering than they are already experiencing in life.
Well the phone rang and I lost my train of thought, which is probably a good thing! I hope this addresses your question to some relatively sufficient degree.
