Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[Ulysse]

I do not see xm in the list of top ten posters. Where is he ?

A couple of days ago,someone ( I do not wish to remember his name), had some negative comments about him; I hope he is still here in this forum ready to assist pilgrims generously as he did so many times...

[NB Kevin]

Ulysse, I too am mystified by the disappearance of xm.
He seemed to handle the personal attack re "inanity" with particular grace.
I see some of his earlier posts now are attributed to "guest."
Is this a tech problem with the software, or something more?

I find that the RSS link is not working today either.

xm, we miss you!

Kevin

[Ulysse]

There must surely be a tech problem somewhere as we are not able to edit our posts.

This is not the first t ime it happens. Ivar should take a look at this... if he is around.

[ivar]

Hi there,

Here is the post I posted to the moderators this morning:

Hi Moderators,

I just wanted to let you know that xm sent me an e-mail this morning asking to be deleted from the forum..... so I did. I wished him well and told him that he would be welcome back at any time.

I think he felt badly treated, partly by me, so he decided to leave. I feel bad about the whole thing, and maybe I should have done things differently. Running a forum with so many members is not as easy as I thought I guess...

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that this is the reason that he is no longer showing up in the forum. All his posts are still there, but will show up as posted from "guest" since the user does no longer exits.

Ivar

...and regarding this:

we are not able to edit our posts.

... I did check and yes, there were two forums that had the setting wrong, but you should now see the "edit" button now over your own posts in all forums. If not could you indicate in what forum/post you are having a problem?

Saludos,
Ivar

[WolverineDG]

xm, if you are out there reading this, please reconsider. Who am I going to share chocolate & churros with? I even took a pic of some just for you, so keep checking my blog for that.

Buen Camino, xm

dg

[Janeh]

If you browse through all the posts at random, you will see how active xm was and what valuable comments he contributed. It is a shame that someone has hurt his feelings, especially by someone who has posted so little over 18mths......yes, sometimes people reply with little more than agreeing or encouraging to hang in there, but isn't that what a community is all about? I would hate to think others will be discouraged by commenting to other's posts - for fear they too will be criticised. Sad to think that xm must have felt he wasn't of any value to continue being part of this forum. Shame.
XM - if you read this, your comments, all of them, I have always read with interest and found them to always be appropriate - like sillydoll, minkey, Br David and others - all people I feel I know because of their generous spirit of keeping on top of what's being discussed and commenting on their knowledge of the topic or just giving their imput. Continue please to do so. None of us should be so "cutting" about another's post. (pun intended for those who know who I mean. )
Buen camino everyone!

[Janeh]

PS - and I don't mean Ivar, he does a fantastic job! Keep up your good work Ivar, we all are grateful of all the time you put into keeping this forum going. Thankyou so much!

[rolf]

Since I have joined this forum about 6 months ago, XM has become something like a good old friend to me.
I hope that one day he will come back to this forum and sees that so many think different about his contribution than the one (?) who has put him off.
Even if he then decides not to join again, I would like to thank him!
Somehow I'm sure that one day we will bump into each other on one of the many ways to Santiago...

[rioja routard]

I agree XM is invaluable to the forum. Everyone has an opinion and free speech should be respected as part of democracy and I would like to think OUR forum is part of this.

I am unable to have easy access to YOU TUBE, but I watched his signature on Saturday night with my girlfriend and we both had tears in our eyes. His words spoke so much about what the camino means.

I really hope XM feels able to return to the site.

He sent some really nice comments when I was walking on the Camino.

regards to you XM, fellow pilgrim

buen camino

[omar504]

My only comment would be that XM seemed compelled to comment on EVERY post. I look to this forum for advice and helpful comments but sometimes ALL posts on the left of the forum were from XM saying basically nothing. I sympathise with him but I feel he could have used the personal message facility rather than cluttering up the forum.

[Minkey]

Yes, I agree on all of these supportive comments. I personally have no problems with him. He has always offered support and intuitive remarks, he has always graced us with a cheery disposition. I feel no need for things to necessarily be related 100% to the Camino as I don't see forums as being all about one thing. If a forum can act as a medium to create new friendships, then so be it. Everyone is different, everyone has a different slant on things, some people are straight to the point, some choose to inject a little personality into their posts.

XM to me is a gentleman with a kind heart, good grace and a giver.

I hope he returns...

[marktqm]

Omar has a point. But I'd rather tolerate xm's remarks any day than not seeing any new postings in the forum at all.

Xm, we know you're lurking somewhere reading this. Come baaaack!

Mark

[William Marques]

I too think Omar has a point but it's a shame when people take offence and walk away when a little tweaking in the way they post would solve any problem there might be.

I've seen it happen on other forums and it's always a pity.

[Minkey]

well yeah, but personally I don't mind spurious remarks... They're not a bad thing. Anyway... Just seems a bit odd.

XM, come hither... That's an order.

[pjdine]

I, the novice, have just returned from joining two friends on the Burgos to Leon leg of their Camino - having had the most wonderful time, and wanting to give some feedback to all those who gave me such good advice - but I am thrown into some confusion by the absence of Xm. I have no other experience of web forums - but didn't see any problem in the fact that he responded to most postings - I found what he said supportive and useful, and he was keen to take up the ideas of others - so it wasn't as though it was all 'one-way traffic'.

I hope you return, Xm - you felt like an integral part of this forum. I don't have any need to know what caused this rift, but this virtual space needs the same respect, courtesy and tolerance needed in any healthy relationship. One of the things that got me through a hot and dusty day on the meseta was trying to remember all the words of Shakespears's Sonnet 94, which is entirely apt here: "They that have power to hurt and will do none..."

In this medium it must be all too easy to inflict what may seem to be small wounds - things said in the grip of minor irritation. But because of the lack of context, the lack of visual and verbal cues, and the relative anonymity of those participating, it is inevitable that it is much too easy to give and take offence.

I hope that there are also the means for those that do feel that they have given or received hurt, to communicate through private messages and apologise, explain and forgive.

For those that were bored to tears about my 'home-made silk sleeping bag' postings - you showed admirable tolerance in not telling me to shut up, and I have to say it was PERFECT for the job.

Come back Xm

Pippa

[Ulysse]

XM,

I started this discussion thinking there was a mechanical glitch with the forum; like anyone that exceeds the number of posts from Ivar automatically gets a red card....

I see you asked for it. You should reconsider, as you sip your Coca con limon under your favorite Florida palm tree.

Let's go mon ami, au plaisr de te lire SOON

[pabloneill]

Hey all,

really sad to see xm has left us...please come back xm!

[sillydoll]

There have been so many posts about XM that I thought I would let you all know that he is OK.

This is an excerpt from a message he sent to me:

The forum is centered on a most highly spiritual subject that stands for understanding, forgiveness, and compassion. If we pilgrims do not put those lessons we should have learned on our Roads, into practice (bad karma), we have a heck of more walking to do!
You know how it feels when you walk with people on the Road for a while and then have to part because folks gotta go in diff directions, it (almost) hurts...that's exactly how I feel about forum participants
Please say hello to DG, I hope she's tried cafe con leche and churros!, Ulysse, NB, Minkey and Janeh, such good people, like yourself, that I miss corresponding with. I've put this behind, Sil, better things are coming: got 9 more "sleeps" before my flight to Madrid and you know where!

Buen Camino XM.

[larryflo]

All right. All right. I give up. I am the creep who had a hissy over XM's copious postings. Beat me with a walking stick. Deny me a bocadilla con queso. Forbid me from the Cathedral during Mass (actually, I am the wrong religion for Mass). I apologize. I acted rashly and out of frustration. However, I think a person or persons could understand my situation. I am not able to look at the forum every day. So, when I finally get around to looking at it, I have found 200 to 400 posts. And, often up to one third are signed by XM. Sometimes they say something and many times they are congradulatory or encouraging. There is nothing wrong with that, except it is rather insensitive to those of us who use the forum for hard-core information. Also, a response, where no response is desired has an inhibiting effect upon a person wanting to post.

Again, I apologize.

Interestingly, it appears that XM and myself will be on the Camino at the same time. I am leaving next week for the second time. Perhaps we will meet, and he can congradulate me and encourage me to be a better person, and pilgrim. I will be the fat, old guy on a bike, with a conque shell on my ass.

[NB Kevin]

Larryflo, that was good of you to apologize to xm, and the right thing to do.

You should know that the scallop shell is an ancient symbol of fertility, and also of course the symbol of St. James and of the pilgrims to Santiago. The scallop shell symbol was also a "pass" of sorts that gained the generosity of strangers for early pilgrims. The scallop shell is also the symbol for Royal Dutch Shell, but that is another matter.

The Conch shell, on the other hand, is a symbol in both the Hindu and Buddhist religions.
The shell is used as a clarion call to signal announcements.
The conch was used similarly by the "boys gone wild" in Lord of the Flies, until it was crushed and with it, any remaining sense of civility and order.

Take a look at the illustration at this link, and I hope you will decide against parking your fat old ass on a conch shell!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch_shell

Buen Camino, Larry!
We'll be pulling for you, and for xm too.

NBKevin

[larryflo]

Voila, another error in judgement. Of course it is a scallop shell. The conque shell is what I should have been sitting on.

[NB Kevin]

Touché, Larry.
You're a good sport!
Buen camino.


Kevin

[pjdine]

Larry, that must have been one of those gut-wrenching 'Emma' moments (Emma snapping at Miss Bates and feeling the disapprobation of all, including herself) - and it is a brave thing to fess up. If such a disparate bunch of people can find a way to work through differences across the ether, then it has to be the mark of a healthy forum. There are obviously infinite ways and means to be on the Camino - like life itself, it takes all types to make an adequate sample. We can all be very, very grateful for that.

I assume you are cycling, so shall invoke a Biker's Blessing: May the walkers anticipate your approach, and step aside to give you the less stony path (I'm a cyclist too, but choose to walk the Camino).

I hope you and XM meet up, and that XM returns after his journey.

Pip

[Howie]

Just came back from a 7-week Europe trip - first thing I did was checking the list of posters - XM wasn't there anymore. Pity.

But - alas - I just know how things like that can happen. I have left several NZ-forums (forae? fori?) for similar reasons. Now I regret some of my actions: to fast, to rash. I acted like a primadonna. Simply wrong. Now I know... XM obviously didn't. I won't repeat my mistakes. And maybe he reconsiders.

... XM to me is a gentleman with a kind heart, good grace and a giver ...

That I second.

Well. He really did write a bit much, ey? But some kind word from SysAdmin could have put that right. No offense meant, Ivar. You're doing a great job. And we are all but humans.

Ok now. Back to the caminos.

[ivar]

But some kind word from SysAdmin could have put that right.

This is what I tried to do, but via PM and not in public.

...but you are right, back to the camino

Ivar