My email address attached to my name raises my own responsibility for those things I post. Why take this risk? Because this is very serious business that we have here. To move this forward, there have to be people acting on our issues in real life. Those people can't really "find" each other without the velcro point which is our personal email address.
There may be reasons I do not understand for posting anonymously. Whatever the reason, some of the power of the site is lost to those who do not post their email addresses. Some of the most helpful and caring comments are not those that we would feel free to post on the general board. What flows to me via my personal email address that never gets posted on the board? The stuff that others design just for me. It's somber advice, laughter, gratitude, scoldings, challenges to do better, silliness, disagreements, and prayers. For example, it's having to opportunity to know that right now, Chrissy is sitting in NH with orange striped skin because she did a BAD job of applying indoor tanning solution. And what do those stripes have to do with ANYTHING? Well, Chrissy knew that it would make me laugh. And laughter helps. And so she emailed it to me. Oh my, is that beginning to sound like real friendship and real life?
Extending your email address is the best that cyber space offers to replace the extension of the hand and the square look in the eyes. The hugs and the tears are to follow.
-- Mary Wade