More than words
What theProse.com means to me is difficult to put into words... It's a feeling. Something beyond taste or touch. Of course, I see and even hear the writes, but admittedly, am made aware of the limitations of these as such. No, it's a totally different sensation that I experience at Prose. It's a sense of Being... like in tune, in sight... yes, in mind.
I don't perceive the Prose as a site at all really. True, it has its corporate address in Washington State. It has its online url, and I do, of course, have my own modest pages located here among thousands of others. Nevertheless I think of Prose as more of a... Guild. It's its own little society that does not preclude any other virtual presence. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and various writer's sites that can be found by running a google search, have their extension here. Though for me, all of these others somehow miss the Goldilock's factor. They're too big, too small... just not right. There may be a flood of feeds (by necessity dismissed) or a sorry separation with everyone as if closed off in virtual cubicles, isolated not because there is no potential for feedback, but because the participatory effort is not consistently there. In short, they don't sustain my interest.
That is why by contrast, I see the Prose as a community, rather than a website. Sure there is a similar postal exchange (things are uploaded, revised, etc.). But these are the mechanics of any communication... what the Prose has is a friendly collegial family atmosphere. Exchanges, challenges, supportive commentaries, substantive arguments evolve on a daily basis with participants of assorted backgrounds. There is a constant curiosity. And all are welcome to join in the conversation at any moment.
I do have Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn... but it's Prose that I turn to daily. It has me laughing when I awake in the morning and thinking dynamically throughout the day and sharing without unnecessary hesitations— when the concrete circle around me is busy with prosaic affairs, I have this precious oasis in which to wonder at what creativity other's are engaged in; to contemplate, read, comment, debate on a wide array of ideas that somehow, regrettably, have little interest/ value in a world that is woefully predominantly preoccupied with a daily squeeze of "earning a living," and just "getting by."
In this gathering, I have been wonderfully blessed to have made connections with other writers — not virtual— but actual, by text posts, audio links, video casts, and even face to face. It's the people, first and foremost that define an enterprise. The people at Prose are committed to fully taking part in the magic of writing in all its various forms and purposes of dialogue: from contemplating the seemingly mundane, to informing, to dream weaving....
That is what makes the collective at Prose such a very special place in my heart and mind.