Dear Cory,
I followed your link to the facebook page. I spent an hour typing in my phone my thoughts on tee comments made by people viewing home pictures.
Since it was the second time my post has been lost on this site, I'm not retyping it.

I'm inviting others from here to comment on it & requesting you to consider making a private facebook page that you invite people to that are truly supportive & understand us.

Thanks!

Still
Trusting God & Cleaning House

that sounds great cory, if its not to far id be willing to come and meet .... mike

Lynn mentioned Skype, Skype is a great tool and may actually be a great first step for many of us who cannot make room in their budget for a trip and for those of us who are seriously uncomfortable with bodily meeting other people atm. Skype is a free program and if you don't have a microphone or microphone headset you can still type in real time with each other. The other great thing about it is that it also frees up our hands so we may be able to play games or other friendship building activities.
If we decided to do a Skype meetup I'm all for it, but i do believe we need to, as a group, decide on rules for our chat that covers everyone's comfort and safety as much as possible.

You are Awesome Cory!
I am new to this group but I am all in. To be honest I want to meet YOU because I want to learn more about ME. It's like finding a long lost sibling and realizing that you both wear your hair or walk the same way. I have been isolated far to long.

Also, I have been having a blast becoming a new me. It is true that it has been uncomfortable, taxing, a bit tearful at times and AWKWARD , BUT it has also been soothing, thrilling, exciting, freeing and even a bit exhilarating!

I have only met one other person like me (and I didn't even know the extent of who was then) and it has been the most comforting feeling I've ever felt. We were sitting at a bar the other night ( I know it sounds like the beginning of a joke...lol) anyhow...a drop of water fell on my jeans from my drink. When I looked down she looked down and said, "wow.. that water drop made such a cool design on your jeans!" I was thinking the EXACT same thing...LOL! I mean everyone else just cleans up the water on their pants. But both of our "superpowers" started tingling and the water drop began to do it's shiny sparkly thing which we both noticed and appreciated. Now we haven't been to each other's homes or cars etc......YET.... but knowing and meeting others is a huge step forward.

Just so you know...I parked my wreck of a car that's loaded with sparkly shiny objects far away from where my co-workers might see it. My friend had to get a ride from someone else because she could barely fit in hers...LOL ...it still is what it is but we both want it to be different. More importantly, it was freeing to laugh about it, not be judged, and have part of yourself be understood without excessive explaining or justifying...

Sooo I will do my best to be there to meet up with my new friends. And I am scared to travel, to fail in some unforeseeable way, to be worried that the money could be better spent, to get lost, to say the wrong thing, to wanna leave five minutes after I get there, to offend someone, to be overwhelmed by what to pack and what to leave behind, to be worried that you'll all be magicians, yogis, acrobats, English professors, doctors, engineers and lawyers (ok not really so worried about the lawyers ...nobody likes them anyway...sooo just kidding hahah)...I will put aside my fears and KNOW I will be inspired by you all.

I want to experience life differently... I want profound freedom.

I would LOVE an actual meet up. What a great way to energize a recovery. Yes, funds very tight but maybe we could all sell off a bunch of our stuff to buy plane tickets AND vow not to do any acquiring and put the $$ we probably would have wasted aside each time we are able to pass over the urge to spend. If we plan this far enough into the future, I think we could pull it off. Maybe a mid-point like Dallas or Chicago? What a great way to reward ourselves for not spending, selling off, purging, etc.

One challenge I gave myself to raise $$ since I have fixed income was to empty enough things out of my house to rent out two rooms. By donating items, I lowered my tax liability for the year and increase income. Plus (SURPRISE) when you rent out a room, there are some "normal" maintenance expenses that --- without a rental --- are NOT deductible, but with a rental are. I was nervous about the tax consequences, but it turns out I came out ahead.

How many people who think they can't afford this amazing opportunity are paying for storage units, I wonder? Or throwing away food because what they have is too disorganized? I see this as another way to give this tough journey a purposeful and rewarding goal. COUNT ME IN!

What about using webcams to chat like Skype or with emails? I now have that available. If possible, set up a backdrop or an area where computer is, if it is ok then can chat away.
I never used Skype with webcam yet so not sure how it would work.

It would be way to far for me to travel, (no I would never fly there.)

Well, I wasn't assuming it would be a go the first time I mentioned it. I would like everyone to leave this idea open, and perhaps another time people will perhaps consider it. I think we could all have a great time and if a lot of people are uncomfortable, then I would imagine that would be comforting in itself! We are not alone :)

Just as I feared. :(
This would be way out of most people's comfort zones.
Not meeting everybody but the travel and the planning and all that.

I guess it's something that I'd be interested in checking out, if it happened to occur in my neighborhood; but I can't imagine that I'd want to pay for travel.

It would be great to put some faces with the names.
I could make the trip to California if I have time to work it in the budget.
My local mental health association is exploring the idea of adding a hoarders group to its weekly community outreach groups. They presently have groups for bipolar, addiction recovery, anger management, etc. and meet in a new building called "The Club House". Right now they are assessing need and interest.

I just wanted to take a poll to see who would be interested in taking these friendships to the next level.

Who would be willing to attend a one day social gathering for all of us on this board?

It would be great to meet you all, and for you to meet each other. I know money will be the first issue for traveling to one location, so lets talk about the pros and cons to see if it is possible!