I remember showing up over here by following the jetsam [1] of the first infosec migration across the tumultuous seas of microblogging, slightly disoriented but little worse for wear.

There was a lot of space back then. You could swing a raccoon in a circle around your head [2] without having to worry about giving someone a faceful of frenetic fur. [3] Fewer than twenty-five thousand souls inhabited this archipelago [4] at that point, gathering on a handful of islands.

I was pretty sure I was destined to be consumed [5] by those who had arrived before my cohort.

In a way, I was. I am no longer the person I was when I arrived here. I have been changed by this place. I have been changed by this ever-changing group of groups of people. I have been changed by you. [6]

Fierce storms will batter these little islands. Battles will arise. Pain and grief are by-products of interaction.

But so are laughter and cheer and warmth and contentedness.

And love.

My neighbors, the very least that I wish for each and every one of you is to find days so filled with love that there's no time for hate and nights so restful that you rise burning with the force of the sun within you.

Mend what is broken. Build shelters you need. Make mistakes and make them count. This is your world and mine and it will be exactly what we make it, but the sky is the limit if we keep looking up instead of bringing ourselves down.

Thanks for being here, thanks for being you, and thanks for listening to the rambling of a silly old dog.

:blobpats:

[1] unbeknownst to many, stale infosec memes are extremely buoyant
[2] assuming the raccoon consented to be swung such
[3] assuming someone wasn't throwing their face at the nearest bit of fur
[4] h/t to @priryo for https://linernotes.club/@priryo/100565446740959131 and @sydneyfalk for https://mst3k.interlinked.me/users/sydneyfalk/updates/85279
[5] :blobnom:​
[6] assuming I consented to be changed such [7]
[7] I did