Today is the second anniversary of my first post here.  Please do not go read that, seriously!  Talk about newbie naivete!  

The truth of the matter is, I never would have known word one about OS if my illustrious sister, MTK, hadn't invited me in here to read and critique her first post.  Talk about being flattered!  I was happy to read anything she wrote and to my utter delight, had read one of her many amazing posts here over the past two years.

I took the bait.  I opened my first blog.  Blog and avatar were words new to my casual vocabulary.  I simmered awhile between reading Mary's first post and taking a giant leap and posting one during and about, the then presidential campaign.  What a wild ride.  Both the campaign and my cautious, sentimental post.  Yuck!  Can't stomach that post so much anymore, but will leave it up as a reminder of how hardened to politics I've become, since that first sheepish attempt at writing and being exposed here...out in the "open."

If anyone were to ask me what it is that keeps bringing me back, time and time again to this site, I'd have to say... the diversity and perspective of the many writers here and the wealth of information in their comments.  Yes, the comments.  

Not to say that I do not read and value all the writing and posts of the many here I have come to know and love, it is the comments that explode off the screen and onto the smile on my face.  It is so amazing, what people will say in their comments.  You can see their words vibrating right off the page, highlighted with emotion, conviction and wisdom.  

Simply said, I love the comments! I love them for their candid exposure of personality, life experience, opinions and startling feelings at various times on a wealth of subjects.  It is absolutely eye opening, illuminating and one wild ride from beginning to end.

I have read far more writers through their comments than through their actual postings.  Many here, I have observed, comment far more than they post.  There is no criticism here and it delights me to see the many readers who take the time to read and weigh in on a breadth of subjective offerings, far and wide and from folks across the globe.

Where else can you come to write, read, comment, experience immediate response to the things that interest us most and that energize us daily?

No, not the gym.  You can get down and sweaty right here.  If brains and hearts could sweat, we would need to pass the towels here.  There is more brain and heart here than any other forum, save a family reunion among scientists and therapists!   Jocks and poets, illustrators, artists and comedians.  Mothers, sons, spouses, doctors, sisters, politicians, lawyers, cartoonists, the unemployed, the over-scheduled, the teachers, the students, the astute and the observers of life...they are all here.

We are the Yellow Pages of diversity and perspective and you just don't get that at the coffee shop, the country club, the board room, the basement, the girly gatherings or the boys club.  Nowhere but here.

At the expense of sounding like a "brown noser," I must say that I am in hog heaven here, in a community where embracing differences and tolerance is the daily dose of the common bond and reckless sharings of multitudes, unafraid.  Fear cannot survive here.  One must be fearless and put it out there/here.  There is nothing to lose and gains on so many levels of our multi-level needs as writers and people willing to both hear and be heard.

Good, bad or indifferent, the comments are pathways to the special talents of so many who are contributing here.  Not just the comments to our own posts but also, the comments we read on the posts of others.  Such a wealth of willing listeners, critics, sympathizers and advisers, all for a simple click and an open mind.

There is so much substance here, despite the infrequent "dust-ups" (another term new to me since joining) and so much more.  Not to mention the term, "flounce."  Another new one and a word I don't plan to use ever again.  If one needs to move on, leave this site for any reason, it is their ultimate choice and there needs to be no explanation or excuse.  

We all came here for a variety of reasons: through introductions, the prodding of friends and colleagues, or god help us, through Facebook! 

Yet we all came, with varying degrees of commitment.  We were led here for a common purpose and a desire to grow and branch out through the art of words.  We display an on-going willingness to put ourselves out there/here and express our deepest convictions, fears, joys, knowledge and experiences so worth sharing to this community audience.

This is open and tempting. We are as vulnerable as we are appreciated. We must be willing to grow an extra layer of skin and write fearlessly about anything and everything.  There is something for everyone here.  Not too many forums you can say that about or enjoy as much.

I came to OS with an open mind, a little trepidation and a lot of hope and excitement about writing again.  A long time passion of mine, I was unraveling one post at a time, peeling off the layers of years of juicy tidbits of life stuff.  it was thereputic, refreshing, exhilarating and scary at times.  

Not once have I been disappointed or discouraged to continue contributing here or to further my search for more and more incredible writers to read and digest with relish.  I found a grand buffet of endless choices here and a huge appetite for more and more.  I find at least one new writer every day I read and who's words I take into a treasure chest of unique perspective.

A little mushy gushy, I suppose, but that's what makes this place so much fun.  You are free to be whoever you are and express absolutely anything.  No disguises if you are truly "open" and no judgment of one's rawest feelings and beliefs.  A very open platform for whatever is on our minds, without scrutiny or interruption.  

We get to be us.  For this, I thank OS, especially the community of writers here, who have made it possible for me to experiment and exploit my very own thoughts and ramblings.  One day I get to be a poet, or a chef, a serious onlooker, a sex goddess (in my dreams) , a fiction writer, an exposer of raw feelings, a writer with no name.  I just get to write here.

And that ain't bad.