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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pour" data-source="post: 5471689" data-attributes="member: 59411">I have to agree with you, but that doesn't stop some people's rage, suspicion, fear, jealousy and irrational hatred from boiling over, as if this Soul should only be achieved through their avenue and no other. I think it has to do, strangely, with how much we love something, and how much time and effort we put into it. How could anyone deny how much love and time we put into this? How could anyone make a claim about this Soul without having gone through what we did? Even the wise and thoughtful fall into these ravines, just for how difficult it is to accept for any extended period the idea of Soul achieved in ways mysterious, or even undesirable or inferior, to us. It's exasperated by the fact the conversation never stops, and by extension the arguments.It's human and it's going on in all spheres of human existence, not just on the RPG messageboards. It's powerfully tempting sometimes. Hell, we all have felt it and surrendered to it before. We've all given into that gnawing aggravation or phantom threat of... what, I'm not exactly sure, but which inspires us to find the faults in other people, the imperfections in what they treasure, to ridicule their own surrender to base accusations, opinionated claims presented as fact, dismissal and indignation. There is a sense of community as we find others doing the same, movements form, barriers are erected, there's a combined sense of justification and self-fulfillment, a sense of right.Some wallow in this state longer than others, and there is a glowing initial period where we feel we've cracked it, finally, that we've discovered the true path and captured the essence of this Soul forever... but the longer we stay, the worse we feel, and the more those emotions listed above seem a part of our lives (or in this case hobby). It comes to a point people lose their glow, are more confused or frustrated than when they started, and will 'give up', vanish from the boards, change their rule system, even give up gaming entirely. There is a complete self-destruction. Sometimes it is vocalized (usually explosively), cathartic in a way, other times internalized, but it's end result is the same: we depart. We either go with a loss of all beliefs, or clinging to our lingering certainty and negative sense of others, or accepting what we enjoy and what others do too without sense of right or wrong, but in all cases we depart.With time we rebuild from the state we've achieved. If we lost all belief, we might return to RPGs, or reading or video games, maybe something entirely unrelated with the same fervor. If we brought with us the seeds of self-righteousness then we're doomed to repeat the negative aspects of the above cycle- though the game or the interest might be different, and if we've truly accepted ourselves and others, then we return happier and wiser than before. Inevitably, we're in the social and emotional cycle wash, and there will be times we fall into these ruts, but there are varying settings. We don't always have to go heavy duty, love and hate, right and wrong, superior and inferior. With acceptance we can settle for a refreshing tumble dry.(Or maybe I'm full of $#!*)</blockquote>

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