Hi.
I hope you are happy today - and that you will enjoy
reading what I will share here with you.

A question:
What gives a life true value and makes it worth getting
up every day for ?

Here's a few ideas, feel free to suggest a few more !:

Closeness with at least one 'safe' person - with whom it
is OK to share your most personal thoughts without ever
considering that they might reject you.

True affection - the sort where someone touches you just
because that is what their Heart says to do.

Physical closeness - the sort that is a comfort when the
wind outside is blowing the shingles off the house and
it is OK because you can just sit together watching the
candles flicker.

Shared experiences of the sort which are remembered
because they are meaningful (and dare I even say deep ?).

These are all things which keep a person's Heart from
feeling adrift with no home place to be safe at - and
though many other things are often substituted for
such important parts of life (work, $, property...STUFF)
having the stuff and not the fulfillment leaves a person
feeling empty no matter how much imagination is painted
over the empty spaces.

Have you ever known any genuinely wealthy people ?
I've known and spoken with quite a few in my life.
Most have been openly miserable and unhappy Scrooges.
I don't consider that kind of life to be true wealth.

I seek the company of another person who also feels these
desirable parts of life as I've described them are the
most valuable - and one who reads all the above and says
'yes !'.
Someone who knows that balance, harmony and peace are
valuable beyond anything which may be bought with money.
(And of course one who is not afraid to reach out and
share that affirmation...)

And if you email me, you can use my real name instead of
the nickname because I think introductions are important !

mark*

*******************************************

All the below is what I posted previously - ruminations
which remain here for someone like myself who enjoys
reading; and also because I refuse to post on the forum
here because it is such a nasty, negative 'climate':

*******************************************

Have you ever taken time to think about things the
single lifestyle resembles - and what it might take to
get beyond it ? I have.
Here's what I've lately begun to think...
It's alot like having to dial a combination to open up
something (yes, I am serious - just think it over, OK ?).

So here's a person with another person who'd like to get
to know them better - but first they need to gain entry;
Turn the dial right to where it says 'non-smoker' and
stop exactly on the little pointer - then left to where
it says 'truly available'; and right again carefully to
the marking that says 'wants real relationship' - and so
on until the handful of really important things are all
clear and that first magical door swings open and those
two start talking about how nice it'd be to spend some
time together.

But like all combinations - that first stop must be right
on the button or the others don't work either - but after
that first one is just right, the others have a smidgin
of wiggle room to each side and it still works just fine.

See what I mean ? It really IS alot like that, right ?

Aside of that I'll just add that I am on this site in the
hopes of finding a person to form a lasting relationship
with - I am available for that, and get along best with
people who speak their mind clearly and who don't expect
other folks to 'read their mind'.

So since it is very easy to do - why not email me and we
can see if the combination is close enough for us both ?!

On a related, but probably much sillier note...
I have been listed on this site for a looooong time now.
Must've read at least 9999 people's profiles by now too.
After reading so many of these things it's easy enough to see that many of
them are much the same - and I gotta say I seriously doubt the folks who
wrote them are that much alike - the very idea is just too silly.

Never mind that though - there's a couple of BIGGIES that stick out like
flashing neon signs that I see ALOT here, and it's time to ask about them.

To start with - what're your friends like ? Got some you've been friends
with like for-ev-er ? Me too. In fact most of my REAL friends are folks
I've known most of my life. The kind that'll talk with you at 3am, or if
you really need 'em they'll come and help you even though they live 1000
miles away. The folks you know you can depend upon even more than family.

OK - so what's all this silliness about 'friend's first' ?????!!!!!

If I take it at face value it looks like this person wants to spend maybe
5+ years really getting to know each other before getting any closer than
a handshake, right ? (Uh-Oh...did I misunderstand ?!)((Sorry.))
IF what that means is really: "No sex until we're really comfortable,
(if ever) - then WHY NOT JUST SAY IT !!???

As far as I know we are ALL adults here - it's a prerequisite of membership.
Since we are all adults it is OK to say what we really mean and usually when
folks desire one another's company in a lasting way that is a part of it.
It is also a big, scary thing for many, many people - but it doesn't go away
just because we refuse to talk about it as the adults we are.
If a person cannot utter or write the word 'sex' without fearing some kind
of bodily harm (or a global cataclysm...) there is something seriously awry.

So why not just say:
"I don't believe in having sex with strangers."
I bet most people would find that sentiment highly agreeable - I sure do.
One short sentence clears the subject up and tells those who seek nothing
besides sex to seek elsewhere; a good thing, yes ?

Now here's the other BIGGIE that is almost too silly for words:
Chemistry. Whadaya mean here - like maybe hormones ?
Sorry - that's Biology.
(Sodium Chloride on that - all these people need to take a bicarbonate of
soda and CHILL OUT !)
So here again - if a person REALLY means "I am 100% about appearance and
physical attraction" THEN JUST SAY IT !!!
Mis-naming it with the name of an icky school subject is too silly.

These ridiculous games may be amusing to, say - someone in their 20's,
but if a person has passed their 30's and is still afraid to speak their
mind it seems as if maybe counseling would be a valid option...?

Sorry if all that is just too blunt for anyone - it's just a bit of
harmless rambling and not intended to ruffle any serious feathers.

((Hmmmmm....I think they must mean when we meet.....is that really a 'date' ?))
Ideally, when at last we meet - the eyes make contact, the world sort of
spins a wee bit, then it just sort of.....gets less important, and we proceed
into our own world, much happier for it's actual existence !