I came with a group from Askville, and fluther put on a big welcome party for us. They gave us our own special chat room to discuss newbie issues. I think they assigned a moderator to help us out. In addition, I already knew a number of people here who had also been on Askville.
I didn’t have to do much to “nurture fluther camaraderie,” although it was a rather difficult time in my life, so I kept on expressing how miserable I was, and there were a number of very kind people. Some of them seemed to have been in similar situations to mine. They expressed the hopes that I would be ok.
It was very nice, and I am forever grateful, because fluther played a very important role in my recovery and in keeping me from getting depressed enough to kill myself. People were very kind to me, and told me they appreciated me and found my words to be helpful. There were even a few who said they liked me, but I tended not to believe them in those days. It was not in my self image to believe anyone would like me. I thought they were just being nice. Which, even if that is all they were being, was still nice.
I used to worry, back in those days, whether people really meant what they said when they said nice things. But I asked a question about it and I think @marinelife told me I should just accept it, and so I did and it made life easier. Thanks M! So now, I’m happy that people say any kind of nice thing to me at all, and don’t bother to worry about whether they are telling outrageous lies or not. Who cares? I’m happy to pretend to be a worthy person. I know all too well what it’s like not to be one.