rules

Do you ever find yourself following rules that you don’t believe in or agree with or being in a situation where you are expected to follow them? No, I am not talking about life rules or legal rules that make us good people and good citizens. I am talking about mundane rules, that are only put into place because of someone’s insecurities and/or jealousy.

Recently I was put in the position to be expected to follow these type of rules. There is this email list (yes, I know…I should learn that these are the root of all evil…LOL) that once upon a time, I was a very active member of and even eventually became a moderator/co-owner of it. Well, several things happened and I felt there were some bad things happening to the list so I took action in an attempt to prevent them. In those actions, someone got their feathers ruffled and I not only had my mod abilities removed but I was unsubbed. I was hurt, mad and appalled all at the same time if that is possible. That list had been my main list at that point and it had introduced me to my new lifestyle and gotten me through Bryan’s absence. Life goes on though and so do I.

Now, fast forward a few years. Someone else finally realized that maybe I was right in my prediction of trouble on the list and got rid of the trouble. In turn, they asked me back to the list and even though deep down inside I had reservations, I rejoined. I guess I went back expecting that it would be the same as before…that was my first mistake. My second mistake was obviously not reading the welcome letter well enough. The first message I sent through, I broke one of those mundane rules and got nailed for it. Not a friendly reminder of we don’t allow this but a very short and abrupt email of you cannot do this. What was it I did…did I flame someone, did I swear, did I spam…no, I had a link to *my* email list in my signature. Now anyone who has seen my signature, knows how unobtrusive that link is. It is 3 words, not 3 pages of advertisements. So, I cut my losses and unsubbed. It was my fault for missing that rule in the welcome letter and I admitted that.

I know, I know…you are probably thinking that is a stupid thing to unsub over but, I truly believe that if you adhere to rules that you do not agree with or support that you are losing a piece of yourself. There are enough rules in this world that I have no choice over to go along and succumb to the ones I do. I also do not have time to bother with such petty issues.

Do I miss the list, no…do I wish them all the best, of course. It’s just experiences like that, that prove to me where I truly want to be :-).