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Dailybooth: How It Changed My Life and Why I Decided To Leave

I joined Dailybooth three years ago as a very different person. I was almost a freshman in high school, insecure, lonely, and looking for something that made me feel complete. When I found Dailybooth, I found not only a solution to all of these problems but a home and a place I could go when I needed to be loved.

I've always been a weird girl. I was constantly made fun of growing up, found myself without friends or companions, without a place that I fit in. And through the course of time that I spent on here, I found so many other people like me. Awkward kids that couldn't find a home in their real lives, closeted gay boys that just wanted to find themselves, girls that wanted to be known for something other than the diseases they suffered from, and various other types of teenagers that just needed a safe place away from high school. So we found eachother. We Skyped and we Tiny-chatted and we fell in love and in friendship and we connected in a way we hadn't in our "real lives". It became a joke - that we were real life friends as much as we were internet friends.

I grew up on Dailybooth. I learned how to be loved by someone that couldn't touch me. I learned how to be classy and how to be smart. I learned what it means to have a true conversation with someone. I learned kindness and passion and all the things I couldn't learn in real life because no one would let me. And I learned to let go.

So, here I am, letting go. I'm almost a senior in high school now, still young, with a real life I need to lead. Yes, I've drifted from my "forever" internet friends, but that's because we all found people to accept us in our real lives. And I'm thankful for all of them, and for Dailybooth, because without them and this site I wouldn't have made it through.

I'll miss what it once was. And I'll always remember who and what made me who I am on here.

Thank you everyone.
(Especially @jon, for making a home for the weirdos.)
Goodbye.

May 8th, 2012
OrchDork liked musicmajor023's picture

Yesterday was National Coming Out Day.

I love and accept people for who they are; I always have. In fact, one of the most important people in my life is gay--my dad. He's one of the reasons I'm so active in my campus GSA. That, and because I believe love is love, no matter who you share it with.

There was a little of a disturbing event on campus Sunday, though. Last week, another member of the GSA put up signs advertising the reception the GSA hosted for National Coming Out Day. Of the 15 signs put up, all but 3 were taken down. And on those 3 were Bible verses--1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, and Genesis 19. In years past, the GSA has been at odds with the religious organization on campus, Exit To Hope. For the past couple of years, we've gotten along well, though there are still a few within that group that are not happy with what the GSA does. But yesterday, the GSA and Exit To Hope came together on this issue. It was kind of cool, actually.

I hope whomever vandalized the posters realizes that in a way, that's the best thing they could have done. Since we left the vandalized ones up, everyone saw just who was starting this "war". And while the instinctual thing to do is to lash back, we have to turn the other cheek. Lashing out only puts us down to their level. A fellow member of the GSA (the one who designed and put up the posters, actually) wrote a note on Facebook about the situation, and this is the last bit of it:

"This is a war that must be fought peacefully, but never quietly. We must meet their hate with love; their bullying with solidarity; their intolerance with acceptance; their anger with peace; and when they finally fall, they fall not onto our swords but into our arms. We must be eager for reconciliation, for without love, everything we stand for is forfeit.

This is a war. The sooner we acknowledge that, the sooner we can turn the tide.

We can no longer afford to remain silent."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Love, friends. Love is all that should matter.

Peace. <3

October 12th, 2010

Joshua is a 111 year old male from United States.

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Instruments, Orchestra, Cross Country, Friends, Family, Facebook, Internet, Love, Hugs, Dr. Pepper, Sushi, Food, Musicals, Music, Joanna Newsome, The Beatles, many other things to add