I have been thinking about my time here at dailykos and about how much this website really means to me. I joined dkos at the age of 22. So much has changed since then, so much has happened, and I have really never sat down and taken the time to reflect on how much influence this site, you guys, have had on my life.
-When I joined dailykos, I was 22. I was living with my new girlfriend, and Obama had just been elected. My girlfriend (at the time) and I had just met about a year prior. Today we have been married for 5 years, and together for 14.
-When I joined dailykos, I had a high school education. I was thinking about college, trying to figure out the funding and what not. Well, 13 years later (and hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt), I am about to graduate from University of Denver with a MSW.
-When I joined dailykos, I hadn’t really been exposed to the world. I knew that I was liberal because I opposed war and supported gay marriage, but I hadn’t yet learned what the term meant. Being here gave me a crash course in that and made me want to learn more.
-When I joined dailykos, I considered myself “colorblind”. I don’t think it was my fault, as I was only parroting the words my mother gave me to conceptualize race. I think back on those memories and cringe, but appreciate how far I have come. I credit black kos, a group of black voices and white anti-racist allies, with my evolution away from “colorblindness”. My wife is bi-racial, and my intellectual move away from colorblindness helped me conceptualize my wife’s experiences in childhood in a way I couldn’t before, bringing us closer together.
-When I joined dailykos, I was an atheist. Not just an atheist, a militant, fedora tipping, m’lady saying neckbeardy reddit type atheist. An evangelical, if you will. Not that there weren’t reasons for my angst against Christianity, growing up with lesbian parents set my family against the religious establishment pretty much since the moment my mother came out. So I hated Christianity for a long time. I credit dailykos for opening my mind and heart to the fact that not all Christians are homophobes. I eventually learned more about western religions in college, but the door was opened by left leaning Christians here. You all taught me I had roped all Christians into the same category, thus becoming what I hated — a prejudiced bigot. This coincided with me getting to know my conservative catholic inlaws, and both them and me changing our opinions about atheists and christianity in a way that lead to greater understanding and honestly a much happier wife.
-Finally, dailykos taught me that I have more to learn. Much more. That as much as I know, there is a body of knowledge that is infinitely larger that I don’t know. I came here thinking that I knew everything, this website taught me that really, I know nothing. And knowing that I know nothing is the first step to attaining knowledge.
I don’t know how many kossacks experienced dkos like I did. In a way, I grew into an adult here. Intellectually, emotionally I was still a child when I started posting here. I credit the people at dkos for being kind and non-judgmental to pretty much a child posting here. Without that, I don’t think I would be the person I am today. I don’t think I would be the counselor that I am going to be when I graduate. I am not sure who I would be, but it would be worse than I am today.
