What's up CPuckers,
After a 12 month break/hiatus/work stoppage (haha), I have decided to try and become involved again with the board.
Last year about this time I lost a close friend, was involved in a very difficult breakup, reconnected with some members of my family, and began seeing a therapist to deal with some anxiety/depression/addictive tendencies/self-esteem issues. It was a rough stretch! Amongst the things I discussed with my therapist was making some radical changes to my lifestyle, one of which was curtailing the amount of time I spent online. It wasn't an obscene amount, but it was certainly interfering with my ability to interact socially and better myself.
As some of you noted (via PMs), I wasn't entirely absent here, and elsewhere online for that matter, and I still did a fair bit of lurking/reading game threads/etc. But the hiatus has helped me change my lifestyle in a positive way, in the sense that I no longer feel the need to immerse myself in CPuck (or in anything else for that matter) at the expense of other areas of my life that I need to focus more on.
I do feel pretty rotten about the way I left the board however, and would like to apologize to all those I abandoned in a couple of CP drafts on the contest/draft board, specifically the Literature and TV drafts. I know they're just a fun diversion but it was disrespectful to all those involved and I would like to apologize for not following through on that committment and leaving without an explanation.
I'm doing much better now. New girlfriend who I can see a long and bright future with, back in university, lost 25 pounds, controlling some of my addictive/obsessive personality traits, and just feeling much happier about myself and my situation.
It might seem obvious and trivial to say something like "there's more to life than CP," but that concept was one of many things I was struggling with, and it took me some time to sort out its place in my life. Now that I've found a better balance, I'm excited to start posting a little bit again, especially since this season looks to be a promising one.
Cheers everybody.
-Geoff aka Ro