The premise of this site was clear from the start: give it all away. Remove barriers to access, help ‘insider’ information circulate, and offer a platform for multiple perspectives to co-exist. Personally, I was on a quest to try and form relationships, and prove to myself that they can be reciprocal. It is, and was, a means to connect with people, and form a collective of peers who cared about one another.
To care, in my mind, meant to show up. To act. To do. What other way could someone show what a thing or person meant to them? How else would someone know that they mattered and were worthy of another’s time, energy, and effort?
In my very first presentation to the group, I attempted to dissect this concept — to think it instead of feel it — because if I let myself feel it I would completely break down. I know this about me. I know that my abilities to feel are overwhelming, so I keep things practical and pragmatic. Seek a problem, find a problem, work to fix a problem. Remaining in this loop could keep me blissfully occupied forever.
Witness a mini-breakdown at 11:03.
There are times, though, when a problem is so big, so out of your control, and has so stressful of an impact that it defeats you by merely existing. It is designed so you can’t win, certainly not by yourself. As a placeholder for a collective, a copyright lawsuit has found me. A photo from a pdf from a CareLab presentation has got us in some hot water. A lawyer had to be hired, and lawyers are expensive.
I can’t say too much about it because it is ongoing. Deadlines do not seem to matter. Another letter could come at any time, and with it, another hefty legal bill to try and counter it. The weight (and wait) is smothering.
Hard as it may be, I am asking for help.
These surprise additional costs on top of operational costs are draining funds faster than I can single-handedly restore them. If anything here has moved or helped you, could you consider donating, or possibly spreading the word?
For non-US internationals, a paypal link can be found at paypal.me/thinkmovement .
For those who reside in the United States, my fee-less personal Venmo can be found @Christine-Ruffolo .
Anyone who gives will be getting some VERY special goodies via email.
The hope is to return the kindness ten-fold.