Peace*Love*Community

Dear MOD’s,

Thank you for giving me the time off I needed this past week. During those days I read and saw much on Facebook both good and bad. And it became clear in my head and my heart what direction I needed to take with this group. I created this group almost 6 years ago because I was removed from another owl group after speaking up in defense of others. I needed a place to go and a place others could go as well. A place of refuge. I said I would allow anyone to join the group as long as they followed my only rule which was to be nice to each other. It was difficult at first, there were friends of mine that refused to join because I had allowed someone they didn’t like join the group. But I persisted and I kept my word. And the group grew. It started out with MOD’s I knew from the social stream, then MOD’s from chat & SPO joined as well. As time went on friends new to owls also joined. A group of people bound together by their love for owls. During these nearly 6 years there have only been 2 times I’ve had to remove someone because they weren’t following my rule which I think is a pretty good record. I admit the farther away we’ve gotten from those Molly & McGee days the harder it has seemed to keep the group going. Groups have become very popular in the last few years and I think people often get overwhelmed by them. But I have persisted even as seems at times there are very few of the 300 plus members interested. Last fall at the International MOD Meet in Minneapolis I met my friend Sylvia Oey and she asked me why I kept the group going. I believe my reason today is the same as I told her then. If I managed to make just one person’s day by making them laugh or smile or get their mind off all those other things out there then it was worth it. Yes it can be a lot of work at times and sometimes I get discouraged. Take the latest fall coloring contest for example, I gave a month and a half to enter thinking that would create more entries and yet there were only 5. I admit I was disappointed and I still owe the winners their prizes. I considered whether it was time to end the group after that and then I heard about Susan Shepler Blum, who was a group member and had committed suicide. She had suffered from depression & anxiety for many years. I don’t know if she looked at any of the group posts or if it would have made any difference but I wanted others in the group to know they mattered. I wanted them to know if they felt down or sad or lonely that we MOD’s were here for them because it speaks to the very core of what I was trying to do those almost 6 years ago. A place of refuge. And then to this past week which has been most difficult for me. I found myself struggling to reconcile my activity outside this group with my activity inside this group. I did not want to make mistakes with this most treasured place so I told you I needed to take a break and not post. I didn’t know how long it would take but after 2 days things became clear to me on the direction I needed to go with this group. Despite differences we all may have this must remain a place of refuge I still need a place to go - a place of peace, a place of love, a place of community

Editors Note: This was originally written in Nov. 2016