Come Together
Right now...er, soon.
January 20, 2025 marks the beginning of a political administration - and period of time - that many of us… to put it mildly, are dreading. Our dread is not based on speculation this time around; nope, this isn’t our first rodeo with this clown. Between his first and Biden’s inaugurations, it took everything we had to find any morsel of optimism, hope and focus as we witnessed him and his cronies break, disrupt, bend and destroy so much of an American principle that we’d come to respect and expect of our nation.
For the last four years, (if I may take the liberty of speaking for the many similiarly-opinioned people I am acquainted with) we’ve tried to regain our sense of calm; a sense of normalcy (whatever constitutes that any more) in our lives. In online spaces where we could share in community and keep in touch, we found trolls dedicated to keeping us triggered and miserable. In short, these spaces became toxic to our psyches. In preparation for Round II of the Anything Goes Show, some of us have distanced ourselves from social media (I myself closed my Twitter tab and haven’t reopened it for a couple months now) - and haven’t missed being exposed to any of the crapshow Elon is selling over there in the least. Although Facebook is “better,” it’s still a place that revels in (and profits greatly from) sowing the seeds of divisiveness; pitting us against one another for clicks and giggles.
I can’t help thinking there’s got to be a better way to communicate and interact authentically with our fellow humans without the interference of puppet masters bound and determined to put and keep us at odds, on edge and in a constant state of fight, flight or fawn. We have to… for the sake of our nervous systems and mental health, do things differently this time around - especially when it comes to connecting and conversing via social media.
My sweetie, Scott, echoes my desire to communicate and connect with others in a productive, pleasant and well-intentioned place online. Closing his Twitter account when the whole Musk debacle began represented the loss of a community he’d spent years building and valued highly. That outlet for communication has been lost to him for at least a year - and he’s missed it a lot. Recently, however, he’s written about the solution he’s implemented at Sensory Dispensary where he’s begun blogging again in order to share his thoughts, passions and generally the “stuff” that makes him tick.
The other component to “social” media, of course, is the social part - the sharing, the conversation, the human connection. Today, I am excited to announce that we’re working on a solution for that factor of the equation as well… In his search for an alternative to Twitter and Facebook (which he’d abandoned back in 2016 for political reasons), Scott has decided to build a Discord server. Don’t know what that is? Please allow me to explain…
Discord is a service that lets people build online communication/messaging communities. A Discord server is, in layman’s terms, a group of chat rooms, created and managed by the owner, in this case Scott (and me assisting with less-technical, more writerly duties) that operates on the Discord platform. Think of it as our own destination for instant messaging/group chat - and we’re calling it, apropos of everything, Come Together.
This will be a safe space for posts like in the “olden times” when social media was fun, helpful, informative and maybe even inspiring - instead of the dumpster fire of doom it has turned into - and descends further into on a daily basis. Come Together will be a positive-focused online community where we will be social, yet separate from what’s happening in the culture at large. We won’t let that shit out there squash our spirits, our spark, our joy. No. we. won’t.
Come Together will have “chat rooms” (called Channels) on a variety of topics that users are encouraged to communicate in. Members will be able to group chat (written/video/voice, play games, share/watch videos/music with each other...) Some of the Channels we’re starting out with include Entertainment, Lighthearted, Personal Growth/Inspiration/Gratitude, Lifestyle, At Home - all with NO POLITICS. A nice thing about a Discord server is we can build out the Channels as topics expand and more people join. And it’s FREE!
Our guiding principle in building Come Together is that our lives are our own, no matter who makes policy, noise, the news… We deserve a safe and pleasant place to…come together, free of those outside influences.
We believe, and we believe you believe, that there is more to us than:
Politics
One-upmanship
Mainstream appeal/popularity
Pettiness
Mean-spiritedness
Trolling
Daily drama
We are dedicated, regardless of what happens in conventional media, to continue to enjoy our passions, laugh, dream, wonder, remember, find awe, find good, revel in what IS… apart from it.
This is where we will socially do that.
Come Together will launch “soonish” and we’ll invite a small group to be our guinea pigs, beta testers in order to work out any bugs and make onboarding and the user experience as simple and pleasant as possible. We hope it fulfills our (and your) desire to enjoy an online social platform that celebrates what makes us not only great, but happy, fulfilled, joyful, curious, inspired, connected, amused, RIGHT NOW.
Cheers to building and curating a healthy, happy, life-affirming community online! We deserve it after what we have - and are going to have to - endure.