The Anonymity of the Web

A friend of mine published an online article recently - it was professional in nature and thoroughly thought out, but imperfectly executed. I feel I can say that because *most* endeavors are imperfectly executed. I freely own my mistakes, as much as I hate to do that.  This person was making a sincere effort to open up a dialogue and to bring some thoughts to light that have needed to come to the forefront of our consciousness for some time now.

Unfortunately, people were determined to tear this article and this person down.  Some people who commented were on-topic, but there were many comments that were about the execution of the article, grammatical corrections, spell-checks and some attacks that really cut to the person's core.

It really has made me think about what I will say and comment on in the future. Our words have such power.  Known person or unknown person - we are all trying to find acceptance, to find our tribe.  When our own tribe attacks, it hurts. A lot. 
Over the last couple of days,  I have come to two conclusions:

1.  Marianne Williamson said in her lectures, "Two things bring out the darkness in other people - your darkness and your light" (I'm really paraphrasing, but you get the gist).

2. Even with our names on comments, it is so easy to feel invisible, anonymous and powerful when we comment on other people from afar. 

What I came to after thinking about that is that I am so grateful for the kind and thoughtful comments I receive here. Thank you.  Always, Thank you.