"Welcome to the Solo list! We are a discussion forum for solitary practitioners of peaceful spiritual paths. The list has a very broad focus; we discuss matters of interest to solitary practitioners, which means that everything from psychology to environmental issues to science fiction can be considered on-topic when framed in a context relating somehow to our spirituality (and those relations are sometimes highly tenuous *wink*). We welcome you to the list; pull a chair up by the hearth and share a cup of herbal tea (or mead, or chocolate milk, or soy milk, or whatever *grin*) with us while we chat about this and that. Feel free to chime in with your opinions and ideas. Feel free to ask questions. We are an open and loving family, and while we may not always agree, we strive to treat each other with respect and honor. Come join the discussions! Merry meet!" - Tiger Eye
This was the concept of the creation of Solo, and
part of the first welcome message when Tiger Eye started this list with Merlin’s help. Tiger Eye is a
loving, creative woman and did a wonderful job of running the list on the system Merlin set up for her. The
current owners have tried to keep the spirit behind Solo as it was originally meant- a open and
loving family of solitary practitioners on a peaceful spiritual path. However, as with any creation Solo
has taken on a life of it’s own.
As the membership on the list grew, nearing almost 500 people,
Tiger Eye’s method of keeping
peace on the list fell apart. There became three distinct
populations on the list. Members that
enjoyed sharing recipes and being social, those that wanted to
only discuss clearly pagan related
maters, and those that wanted to be able to have serious debates
without being PC and fearful of
hurting others feelings. As fighting broke out amongst these
groups, and Tiger Eye’s requests for
peace were unheeded, Merlin stepped in and tried to restore the
peace. The list was used to Tiger
Eye’s non-invasive approach to running things and were
shocked by Merlin’s "take charge" attitude.
Arguments about how Solo should be managed over took the list,
and all sanity seemed to go out
of the window. Frustration racked both Tiger Eye and Merlin,
because their creation of a peaceful
haven for pagans was literally falling apart before their eyes.
The decision to end Solo was made,
however Merlin came up with an idea. Rather than dissolving Solo
altogether because of the
fighting, three separate lists were created. One for each group.
Solo was for the group that wanted
only to discuss pagan issues. Solo-Fluff was created as a
creative, playful and social place.
Solo-Debate was created for those members that wanted to debate
to their hearts content in a
free-forum fashion. Tiger Eye left the list out of exhaustion,
while Merlin, Emy and Anaya stayed in
her place to run the lists in their best efforts.
Solo had a new beginning. The concept of three separate lists did
not go over well. There were lots
of complaints and no one clearly understood which list was for
what. Some discussion and
arguments continued. With Tiger Eye gone, a new way of management
took over. However, there
were no "rules". Nothing to say what was okay, and was
wasn’t. It was a frustrating time, and one
that has taken a good deal of "life" out of the list.
The feel of the list is completely different, and it took a while
to figure out how everything was
supposed to work. Eventually guidelines were set up. The names
changed slightly from Solo to
Solo-Pagan, Solo-Fluff to Solo-Community and Solo-Debate remained
Solo-Debate. These
names in conjunction with the guidelines were designed to cut
down on the confusion. Karen joined
as an owner on Solo-Community. With some adjustment, and over a
period of time the lists
congealed into being. Life on the Solo-Triad was quiet, but good.
Then, the news came that Solo was no longer going to be hosted at
listproc. A decision had to be
made. There was discussion.Members were asked for their opinions.
The responses were read,
and all but two of the members asked that Solo be merged back
into one list. However, all of the
owners agreed that merging the lists posed a problem. While
Solo-Pagan and Solo-Community
can combine rather easily Solo-Debate was a different story. The
philosophies behind
Solo-Debate had evolved into something entirely different.
Something new, and fundamentally
altered than what Solo is based on.
Another decision had to be made. Solo-Pagan and Solo-Community
were clearly going to merge
back together. Solo-Debate needed to be kept separate. Then
arguments broke out about exactly
how the lists would be run, and how they would relate to each
other. The concept that Solo-Debate should have broken off a long time ago reemerged. It
became apparent this was the
best and only feasible option. Alabaster and John T. then moved
on to create a new, separate
list called Solo-Open. Taking the name from what they feel Solo
should be about. (Information on
the philosophy behind Solo-Open and
subscribing directions are available.)
In light of this, all three lists of Solo have merged back into
the original Solo with some very distinct
differences. First of all, Tiger Eye is long gone. We miss her
and respectfully recognize her as the
birth mother of Solo. Second of all, the list now has guidelines
to follow to moderate itself. The
owners, while remaining passive as Tiger Eye did allowing Solo to
go what ever direction it
chooses, reserve the right to step in and resolve disputes that
cannot be done so in private. None
of us want to see a reoccurrence of past problems.
In the end, Solo will be as it was meant to be. "A
discussion forum for solitary practitioners of
peaceful spiritual paths". It is what we make of it.
We’ve been given the space, and the structure in
which to do what we want with. This is our community, our family.
So once again, we say to you, "Welcome to the list; pull up
a chair by the hearth and share a drink
with us while we chat about this and that."
Blessed be,
Anaya, Alabaster, Emy and Karen