after enlightenment, the dishes

When life gets a little rough, I daydream about going back to West Michigan and starting a coven there (which is, in fact, one of the things I plan on doing when I am All Trained Up). There’s probably no call to be joining regional Yahoo lists quite yet, though. *ahem*

I am nevertheless surprised at the number of groups that exist. When I lived there, I felt like there was nothing! I moved away because I was so sure there were no Pagans near me! Some of these groups have been around for 8-10 years, too, so they must have been there when I was. Were the existing groups not good enough for me? Did they meet further away than I was comfortable driving? Did Yahoo’s search feature suck so much that I never found them?

I suspect the answer to all three questions is “yes”. I know I was picky about what groups I joined (and I rarely met physically with any of them), and I whined about driving an hour — though, to be fair, I now drive four hours for an all-Craft-all-the-time weekend with close kin, not coffee and more-fluff-than-not “discussion” with virtual strangers. And Yahoo’s group search has been widely known to suck.

So far I haven’t found any regional Pagan groups worth delurking on. Which is just as well, as Baltimore is still home, and distances in Michigan probably seem shorter from here than they would if I lived there. (Either that or I’m lazy I’ve gotten used to the East Coast, where driving an hour gets you to another state.)

Where is the discussion happening nowadays? Sites like Ning? Blogs with lots more traffic than mine? Or, should I say, is there still discussion happening? Seems to me the signal-to-noise ratio has gone down, but it could also be that my definition of “signal” has narrowed over the years.

Off to wander; it may be a short trip. My need for community is already satisfied, and it also seems to me that “community” is the first and sometimes only purpose of most online Pagan groups. What I’m looking for is the realization of the daydream — and I don’t actually want that to happen yet. Too much to do here. (Which work I am tidily avoiding.)