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Firepit Update Letters
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March 21, 2003
Dear friends and loved ones -
I write this with mixed feelings. On the one hand, today is Ostara, the Spring Equinox, a day to celebrate balance and rebirth. On the other hand, our nation has begun a controversial war that is shredding any sense of global peace and harmony. A mixed bag of energy and emotions, indeed.
As such a time, it is particularly important to remain grounded, calm, and emotionally resilient. Each one of us can help reduce the sense of anxiety around us by keeping our focus on the best possible outcomes. Regardless of our personal views on this war, we can emerge from this situation stronger if we remember that each crisis can be an opportunity for growth.
Which leads me to the Firepit... As some of you know, shortly after my Imbolc update I lost the Master File to the Firepit when I reformatted my primary hard drive. Nine months of work was lost in a moment. Fortunately, the data wasn’t lost, merely the structure. The files for the Firepit were still on the Server, but without the Master File, I couldn’t make any changes or updates. The entire Firepit had to be rebuilt; page by page, link by link. After spending a day or so in disbelieving shock, I emerged determined to seize this as an opportunity to improve the Firepit.
In order to meet my goal of updating the Firepit at each Sabbat, I have spent the past several weeks in a frenzy of intensive work. I’’m now pleased to announce the rebirth of the Firepit! Although I’’ve kept the basic look and feel of the Firepit the same, each and every page has been reviewed, revised, edited, expanded, clarified or otherwise improved. Some articles were completely rewritten, new articles have been added, while some pages were cut completely. Since this update is so massive and comprehensive, I won’t bog you down with 125 different page links, but I’d like to draw your attention to some changes I’m particularly proud of:
I’m really thrilled by how the FAQ turned out. The original body of the FAQ was written several years ago, and new questions were merely tacked onto the end as they were asked. The FAQ has now been completely revised and reordered for greater clarity. Every single question has been edited, and many responses have been greatly expanded and clarified. I paid particular attention to reordering the questions so that they can be read in their entirety, giving a broad general overview of the subject
I have also changed the photos that adorn each chapter. (Naturally, all photos are ones I’ve taken myself.) I’ve tried to keep graphics to a minimum to improve loading times, but a small image was chosen for each section. I’’m still trying to figure out how to give guests access to my photo albums without sacrificing page loading times or using up space on my server. Any ideas out there?
The main chapter sections have been changed around slightly. I’ve added a section called "
Philosophy", to take the burden off the "
Theory" section, which was getting over-crowded with articles. They’ve now been redistributed in a way that I hope makes sense to you all. I’ve also dropped the "
Community Knowledge" section for the time being. Although I liked the information that I had there, it was all stuff that can easily be found elsewhere. I try hard to offer original information at the Firepit, and try to avoid being redundant. I’ll consider including this section in the future if anyone has suggestions for information they’d like to see there.
I’ve proofed each page, and yet it’s possible that I’ve stared at it for too long and might have missed some errors. If you notice any mistakes in either style or content, I’d really appreciate letting me know. In fact, I’m hoping for lots of feedback on this latest version of the Firepit. This is my best effort to date, and I trust that you will enjoy it.
Finally, remember that peace begins within our own hearts first. In spite of the high state of anxiety present in the world today, we can each choose to respond with love. Be an inspiration of love to those around you, and you add to the peace of the world. Namaste.
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