Resignation of the President
Feb 21, 2019 18:20:38 GMT -5
qwabourharbour, Aav Verinhall, and 2 more like this
Post by Cormac on Feb 21, 2019 18:20:38 GMT -5
My fellow citizens of Pacifica,
With a great deal of pride in what we've accomplished in a relatively short time, I hereby tender my resignation, effective immediately, as President of Pacifica. It has been an honor to serve as your President, but I believe the time has come to step aside. Please let me explain, at some length, why I'm resigning.
When I was a teenager in high school, I participated in a Christian youth group called Young Life. One of my Young Life leaders, a woman I consider a very important part of my life because of the example she set for me when I was young, had a special number she would see frequently, several times a day, wherever she would go. She didn't consider it just a lucky number, but because of the frequency she saw it she considered it a reminder from God that he loved her and that when things were bad, they would always get better. It wasn't long before we were all seeing that number a lot. Still to this day, I notice it often, though not as often as I once did. I'm sure there's some scientific explanation people would use to explain this, like just being more aware of the number because it had been mentioned as a special number. Fine. I don't expect anyone to believe it, or think anyone should. But it was important to me when I was young. Despite having been an agnostic for years, it's still important to me, still makes me smile and think of better times when I see it, and still makes me hopeful that bad times can get better. That number, for the record, is 221.
The past few days, in real life, I've been struggling with the news that I'm going to have to move out of the place I live, but I don't have anywhere to go. Rent in my area has gotten expensive due to a large influx of out-of-state workers for natural gas jobs. Public housing is full, with years long waiting lists in some cases. I've been worried for days that I'm going to end up legitimately homeless soon, and when I say worried, I mean worried. This place I live is basically falling down around me, which is why I'm not going to be able to keep living here -- the landlord can't afford to fix everything, so he's just shutting it down as soon as possible. But as bad as living here is, it's a place to live. When the alternative is not having a place to live, that's one of the most frightening prospects a person can face. I've been having panic attacks on and off the past several days. I couldn't sleep. I could barely eat. I didn't know what I was going to do. But then today, a relative whom I haven't talked to in years and who I thought didn't really care (like most people I know in RL, so it wasn't anything against them specifically) unexpectedly walked back into my life. That relative is going to help me get back on my feet. I'm not going to be homeless, and things are going to get better. I found all of that out today, on February 21. 2-21.
Say what you will, and I think everyone is entitled to their beliefs or the lack of them. But I'm not an agnostic anymore, not today.
All of this is a long, but important to me, way of saying that I can't play this game the way I've been playing it anymore. I can't spend my time on the kind of rage and upset we've seen happening in this community the past few days, and it's not just here -- this is what happens in "gameplay." I'm not saying other people should stop participating in gameplay. But what I am saying is that I need to stop. I believe I'm supposed to be living my life a different way, spending my time on other, more positive things, things that are emotionally healthier for me and for other people. On top of that, I'm going to have important things to do the next few months to get moved into a new place, get back on my feet, etc. So I have to step down as President. I have to move on and hope we've accomplished enough that this community can continue to function despite the disruption that's taken place the past few days. I'm optimistic. I think maybe this will be a good development not just for me, but for everyone. I hope that will be the case. I hope all of you can understand why I need to do this, and why I can't worry about the impact it will have. But I do hope for a positive outcome.
In any event, now that I've resigned, this is how everything will work. Because there is no confirmed Vice President, a presidential election will be immediately triggered. I will remain in the WA Delegacy to ensure a safe and smooth transition to the next President, unless requested to resign by the Guardian Council, or instructed to do so by the next President. I'll also be staying part of the community as a citizen, including as Chief Administrator of the off-site forum and Discord server, a job I think I will be able to more effectively do now that I won't be involved in gameplay anymore and can remain neutral in gameplay-related disputes, etc. I will of course step aside from that if requested by the Founder, Topid, as has always been the case, because he is the one ultimately responsible for administration. The point is, though, that I'm not abandoning the community, I'm just hoping to engage with it in a healthier way for me that will hopefully also be beneficial to others in the community. I hope everyone can understand that.
Again, it has been an honor and overall a pleasure to serve as your President. I wish my successor the best of luck. Semper Pacifica!
With a great deal of pride in what we've accomplished in a relatively short time, I hereby tender my resignation, effective immediately, as President of Pacifica. It has been an honor to serve as your President, but I believe the time has come to step aside. Please let me explain, at some length, why I'm resigning.
When I was a teenager in high school, I participated in a Christian youth group called Young Life. One of my Young Life leaders, a woman I consider a very important part of my life because of the example she set for me when I was young, had a special number she would see frequently, several times a day, wherever she would go. She didn't consider it just a lucky number, but because of the frequency she saw it she considered it a reminder from God that he loved her and that when things were bad, they would always get better. It wasn't long before we were all seeing that number a lot. Still to this day, I notice it often, though not as often as I once did. I'm sure there's some scientific explanation people would use to explain this, like just being more aware of the number because it had been mentioned as a special number. Fine. I don't expect anyone to believe it, or think anyone should. But it was important to me when I was young. Despite having been an agnostic for years, it's still important to me, still makes me smile and think of better times when I see it, and still makes me hopeful that bad times can get better. That number, for the record, is 221.
The past few days, in real life, I've been struggling with the news that I'm going to have to move out of the place I live, but I don't have anywhere to go. Rent in my area has gotten expensive due to a large influx of out-of-state workers for natural gas jobs. Public housing is full, with years long waiting lists in some cases. I've been worried for days that I'm going to end up legitimately homeless soon, and when I say worried, I mean worried. This place I live is basically falling down around me, which is why I'm not going to be able to keep living here -- the landlord can't afford to fix everything, so he's just shutting it down as soon as possible. But as bad as living here is, it's a place to live. When the alternative is not having a place to live, that's one of the most frightening prospects a person can face. I've been having panic attacks on and off the past several days. I couldn't sleep. I could barely eat. I didn't know what I was going to do. But then today, a relative whom I haven't talked to in years and who I thought didn't really care (like most people I know in RL, so it wasn't anything against them specifically) unexpectedly walked back into my life. That relative is going to help me get back on my feet. I'm not going to be homeless, and things are going to get better. I found all of that out today, on February 21. 2-21.
Say what you will, and I think everyone is entitled to their beliefs or the lack of them. But I'm not an agnostic anymore, not today.
All of this is a long, but important to me, way of saying that I can't play this game the way I've been playing it anymore. I can't spend my time on the kind of rage and upset we've seen happening in this community the past few days, and it's not just here -- this is what happens in "gameplay." I'm not saying other people should stop participating in gameplay. But what I am saying is that I need to stop. I believe I'm supposed to be living my life a different way, spending my time on other, more positive things, things that are emotionally healthier for me and for other people. On top of that, I'm going to have important things to do the next few months to get moved into a new place, get back on my feet, etc. So I have to step down as President. I have to move on and hope we've accomplished enough that this community can continue to function despite the disruption that's taken place the past few days. I'm optimistic. I think maybe this will be a good development not just for me, but for everyone. I hope that will be the case. I hope all of you can understand why I need to do this, and why I can't worry about the impact it will have. But I do hope for a positive outcome.
In any event, now that I've resigned, this is how everything will work. Because there is no confirmed Vice President, a presidential election will be immediately triggered. I will remain in the WA Delegacy to ensure a safe and smooth transition to the next President, unless requested to resign by the Guardian Council, or instructed to do so by the next President. I'll also be staying part of the community as a citizen, including as Chief Administrator of the off-site forum and Discord server, a job I think I will be able to more effectively do now that I won't be involved in gameplay anymore and can remain neutral in gameplay-related disputes, etc. I will of course step aside from that if requested by the Founder, Topid, as has always been the case, because he is the one ultimately responsible for administration. The point is, though, that I'm not abandoning the community, I'm just hoping to engage with it in a healthier way for me that will hopefully also be beneficial to others in the community. I hope everyone can understand that.
Again, it has been an honor and overall a pleasure to serve as your President. I wish my successor the best of luck. Semper Pacifica!
