Esoteric Bowl

I have never been very comfortable with organized groups. Granted, there are a number of groups and organizations that do remarkable work and the world is a better place because of them. But as for me, I’m not attracted to the group dynamics that clubs, organizations, and various groups offer. I’ve never been a member of a club, clique, fraternity, political party, or specific religion. Perhaps my avoidance of such groups can provide some explanation as to why I don’t have very many friends, but I have always found the aspects of maintaining my own individuality much more desirable than the fellowship that may be gained from being a member of a particular group.

With that being said, I recently asked for and received a membership account to post at HawaiiStories, a fresh new website where individuals can submit their thoughts, points of view, poetry, or basically anything else that may come to mind. It’s a community weblog created for and with Hawai’i people at heart, although everyone is invited to the site and encouraged to participate and share their own thoughts. They also provide hosting with MovableType.

Despite my inclination to avoid joining groups, I was inspired by the creation of HawaiiStories by Ryan Ozawa. I believe HawaiiStories has a great potential to allow people to express themselves, something that isn’t always encouraged in the Islands for one reason or another. Although I have yet to submit anything for this site, I do intend to do so today.

So, I am now an active member of a group, albeit a website group. Compared to other kinds of groups, I guess a website group holds the least amount of threat of being intrusive on the individual. There aren’t any secret handshakes or mandatory meetings that I must attend, and I don’t have to be someone I’m not. They did create my very own buttton to be displayed on the site, which is kind of cool. I’ve never been buttonized before.