A bunch of random stuff :)

[BarbT]

Well I've been away and had a shower since originally reading this because I wanted to think very carefully before responding.

When you live in your own very private hell you (well I anyway) can be driven to present a different face to the ppl around you. When that facade finally falls for whatever reason the ppl around you react in very different ways:

Some *friends* are angry with you for what they perceive as betraying them because you have lied, not been totally honest and the current situation contradicts everything that's occured in recent times.

Some friends just hug you and offer their love and support.

Others retreat because they don't know how to respond.

There are obviously other responses but the above are the ones familiar to me.

I believe Darren has an incredible ability to make some feel he is their friend or they feel a very close affinity to him (I have), others have already sensed the Spin era was somewhat of a facade. Therefore, I believe it is not realistic to expect anything less than very varied emotions/reactions to his most recent message. It was an incredible message and as I said earlier it did finally leave me feeling inspired, but reading it was very eerie for me personally.

From that message I read that even his family were unaware of the depth of his pain. I think it is one huge step forward for him to finally be able to let it all out and find some peace.

I think we all need to be able to express the feelings that message has evoked in us just as we express the feelings his music evokes, we are all individuals with different interpretations.

[Dyan]

I look at it this way............ he posted a message AND he put it in the public section rather than just to the fan club members. This is a good thing. *laughs*

You see, the thing is that I remember during Affirmation when I hung out with Beachfrog, Kel and the others on the original Sony bbs. And we often had many, MANY conversations along the lines of how easy it would be for Darren to send everyone a holiday greeting because we could see the sense of waiting and hope from the other fans. (Btw we focused on him because fair or not, Dan wasn't likely to send the fans a message. Not that Dan is a bad guy. It just wasn't his type of thing and he wasn't going to do it.) But a message............. ANY message would have meant a lot to fans. It didn't have to be big or elaborate. Even a simple 'Hey Carla, tell them 'Merry Christmas' would have sufficed to make everyone feel remembered and happy.

But none came.

SG did send one the next year. Although it DID stay up for a full year thereafter, which I thought lent it more than a bit of oddness. And if I remember correctly, Darren also sent a short greeting last year. So I'm not saying this is a new thing for him. All I'm saying is that I remember the year when there was NO greeting at all. Of any sort. And I remember how fans were a bit hurt by that and wondering why such a little thing was impossible to ask for.

So I figure......... hey, at least he remembered to send a message. Sometimes he doesn't. LOL

[Dyan]

I guess I wonder Kat... why should he? Why does he have to say what it was that has upset him or annoyed him or given him happiness and joy? And why should we expect that? I dunno... I just don't get it.

<font size="3" face="Tempus sans ITC, Papyrus,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">While I'm in a reflective mood, I have one more quick thought here...........

It's not that he *should have to*. To me, it's just that it would be refreshing to see it happen. As Steen says, Darren seems have revelations like this on a regular basis. Now I'm not criticizing that. In fact, the fact that he often seems to work out his feelings verbally and that he's a bit messy and not always consistent is one of the things that made me so loyal as a fan. I can relate to the moody, emotionally messy Darren. lol But my point is that he does it all the time, so it's normal for some of us to hit the point where we take it with a bit of salt. Sort of like every time Darren changes his hair color and announces "THIS is the real me". And a part of me wants to pat him on the head and say "yes, dear. This is the real you .......... until you decide that it's not". lol

This might not be on point but it reminds me of the time that I was visiting a site a month or so ago. It was one of those 'spiritual thought of the day' thingys. And on this particular day, the Rabbi posted "404. Not Found In times of distress when the oracle is out of inspiration, I must rely on my inner strength to guide me through the day. I'm sorry, but there seems to be a problem with the system. I cannot find a topic relevant to today." I kept that because it struck me as an amazingly honest and refreshing thing to say.

<font color="#9966FF" size="1">[ December 26, 2003 12:28 AM: Message edited by: Dyan ]</font>

[Twizzle]

I didn't find anything wrong in his Xmas message per se (in fact, I quite liked it) but it just didn't move me in any way, shape or form. I guess that's just b/c <u>he</u> doesn't 'do' anything for me anymore, emotionally or spiritually.

To me, he's just an average looking guy with a good voice who sometimes writes great songs. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Sorry you got upset though, Laur. [img]graemlins/girl_hug.gif[/img]

[DarrensPassion]

I am just very happy and touched that Darren did decide to post such a personal message at Christmas time.

We all have revelations and insights into ourselves at different points in our lives. We are continually growing, changing and finding out new things about ourselves. Darren is no different to us in that respect. But one of the things that impresses me is the fact that whatever he says, he always tries to be honest with us with his feelings. I really do not think there is any artifice connected with the things that he writes. I think he writes and posts what he feels is in his heart at that moment. Sometimes he may be writing retrospectively about those feelings, but it does not make them any less honest or valid. Maybe as Steen said, he is simply trying to protect the feelings of those people he cares the most deeply about. Maybe those feelings are too raw to post about immediately? It may not always be that he is feeling happy but I am glad that he has once again felt that he is able to be honest with us about his feelings because during the course of the past year or so, I feel that he has held back a bit from being so open as I think there may have been times when the things that have been said about him were so far from the truth that they were laughable. Maybe he felt hurt at some of the rumours or daft things that were being said about him? I think he may just have decided to retreat a bit but I am glad that he feels able to reconnect once again [img]smile.gif[/img] I think that perhaps when his new album is released, a few of these questions may be answered.

Janie xx

<font color="#9966FF" size="1">[ December 27, 2003 09:24 AM: Message edited by: DarrensPassion ]</font>

[Kattitude]

I think the thing is everyone gets something different out of a Darren message. We are all simply like him people with messy emotions. We all react to each others posts just like we react to his messages.

I do care about Darern on some level but I dont personalise it anymore to the extent I use to. I dont take it personally and get hurt for him anymore. I dont have expectations from his messages. Well maybe on some level I do.. theres a truth I seek and I just dont see it. Its a inner truth and I guess I seek it because he makes out he's putting it out there. I cant fully explain it but thats how I feel.

I didnt hate the message.. I was *moved* by a message on some level. I still think alot of it was Darrens own self absorbed dramatics. But thats the way he is and its nice he made alot of fans happy by speaking and that they feel they connected in some way to him.

I think the new album could be good because I love dark music personally.

Kat