User talk:Wahkeenah

To whom it may concern: I have abandoned wikipedia. My account has been blocked at my own request. Wahkeenah 21:16, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Okeedokee

Drama is silly. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 21:22, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

• Thanks for posting that writeup about departures, which I finally read just now... a very insightful article. Although I was angry at a specific situation that evolved into the "last straw", that was just a symptom of a larger problem... of realizing that after more than 2 years creating and editing articles in areas of interest to me, what started out as a desire to write and contribute had degenerated into spending the vast majority of my time here combating vandalism and the obtuseness of certain editors. In short, it started out as fun and wasn't fun anymore. Thus, at this point I have nothing more to give and I might as well give it a rest for awhile. After a suitable interval, if I get the urge to contribute again, I might start fresh with a new user ID and a very short watch-list, to try to avoid the inevitable frustration that came from defending too many articles at once. Thanks fer listenin'. :) Wahkeenah 04:48, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

That essay pretty well has all the angles covered. The following fits to a fair degree, although not totally: "Most departure notes are sincere at the time they are written. The former contributor genuinely intends to discontinue active participation. But leaving is a process, not a single event. The signs of a previously committed contributor uncommitting themselves to the goals of a community are usually clear. The departure note is a step on the road, and oftentimes will be followed by scaled-back contributions and lurking." Wahkeenah 05:10, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Lurk well, Wahkeenah, and do come back when you're good and ready. Very best wishes, --Guinnog 05:16, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for your kind words. I really appreciate it. You should read that article. It's fascinating stuff about community psychology. For one thing, it says that someone who quits in anger will come back and look for others' comments. So you fulfilled that need. I know I've got some friends here. :) In general, that writeup made me think about stuff objectively (I can be just as obtuse as anyone else, don'cha know). I've been thinking that I have, in fact, had positive things to contribute: original articles, additions to existing articles, photos, etc. I'm not just some troll. The problem is when I let passion get in the way of clear thinking, which is my nature sometimes, and then I can find myself acting like a troll. I've got to fix that, or at least face it, before I start editing again. :) Wahkeenah 05:28, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Sorry to see you left - maybe see you back soon. Weatherman90 22:15, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your support. Chairboy's writeup talks about scaled-back contributions and "lurking" (reading without contributing) and that's kind of what I'm doing now. My wife told me I was "addicted" to this thing, and it's true. That's one reason I asked an admin to block my account, to help me break this "addiction". But it's not easy. As the writeup suggests (although never coming out and labeling it "addiction"), it's a weaning-away process. I'm continuing to watch my bloated watch-list (especially for newsworthy stuff like the NBA and NHL brackets, which are faster to get to here than on other sites) and with the intent of only updating articles that I care most about and which have had vandalism uncorrected for some time. Fortunately, very little of that has happened so far, and already I'm spending far less time on this site than I had been. :) Wahkeenah 04:57, 18 May 2007 (UTC)