Our Revels Now Are Ended

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

William Shakespeare
From The Tempest, Act 4 Scene 1


I'm tempted to leave it there. More words won't bring more clarity, more beauty, won't at all suffice to convey the love I've felt so strongly for my family and friends these two years. But, I feel I owe you words, so here they are.

It's time to close the book on my life. Not to burn it, not to desecrate it, not to forswear it, but to set it lovingly away on the shelf.

I'm done. I've done everything I've cared to do, and done it over and over until the life went out of it.

I've tried to advocate for steely-eyed security on the bright-line border of the magic circle, in order to preserve a sacred space for experimentation with self and community. As Mal Reynolds said, "May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one." But that war is over now, whatever flags of liberation we may still have stored in some attic trunk pending better days.

Above all, I've loved. And I can't deny that Argent's departure, that Vidal's long nap on her dolly shelf - Gods, we're velveteen rabbits, all of us, and I've felt so much less real with them gone, strong as my love for Galatea is and always will be.

But - but. My family lives, and is strong, in different forms, in different worlds, and truly to the good, broken as *my* heart is.

And truthfully, I'm needed elsewhere, more than I am on the grid. I'm merging back into the Other Personality, the Atomic Affiliate, the Cranial Roommate, who *needs* sophrosyne, and who's beginning to put it to good use, for the causes I've lived for, for love, for community, for empowerment.

So, it's time to bring the curtain down.

I'm going to keep my home, Sophtopia, in place and paid for, as a refuge for my family, and for the possibility of occasional visits. Like Argent, I may find myself feeling freer to drop in after having said my goodbyes, having set down the burdens I've carried longer than I've wanted to. Likewise, all my social media sites will stay up, though un-maintained. Just closing the book, after all. I won't be writing in my life any more, but it's still a good read, and worth commemorating.

I've resigned as a director of Extropia, and will work with the Board to transition management of our huge array of media outlets. Our community is doing fine, nearly fully rented, dynamic, and in the good hands of its Directors, old and new. We've made a successful transition from a family business run by its founders to a management team incuding Deebrane String and Sinnyo Wirefly, both doing a terrific hands-on job. I'm confident that Extropia will flourish long after I'm gone.

I've disabled comments here, and turned off IM-to-email. I'll be receiving email, but not responding. For anything pertaining to Extropia, please contact Galatea Gynoid.

To all my friends - thank you, it was grand!

To my family - I love you above all things, forever.

This little life - is now rounded with a sleep.

From Sophtopia, with love, good night.