Note: These are just my personal thoughts. Yours may differ. If so, I welcome your input. If we keep this conversation going and friendly, perhaps something good will come of it.
Full disclosure: I love the Journals section!
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In pre-pandemic days, I was an active library volunteer. I've on the board of our "Friends" group for over a decade. We have donation bins in the library. We sort, collate and eventually arrange thousands of books for quarterly book sales. Right next to the bins is a table that has been designated the "Tutor's Table". Occasionally, a tutor will get pissed off when a volunteer works the bins while they have a student. Periodically one will complain to the staff.
First, the "Tutur Table is just to make sure that there's always one available. A tutor is free to use any open space anywhere in the library. Second, the tutors are completely independent of the library system. The library offers them a free, convenient space where they can ply their trade. Yup, the County Library System is completely absorbing the cost of the tutor's overhead, while the tutors are charging their pupils a pretty penny. WTF? On the other hand, the volunteers are giving their own time to raise money for the exclusive benefit of the library. In other words, the volunteers are raising money for the library, and the tutors are getting a free place from which to operate their own small business.* Nice for them, right?
This is kind of how I feel about people who don't venture out of the journals section, or their own journal**. I'd love it if people would "pay" a little rent for their free journal space by helping other FIRE seekers out. They are all intelligent people who have valuable life experience and lots of good advice to share. Plenty of people feel the way Sparty does - unwilling to wade into a 40 page long journal, and so the exclusive journalers' wisdom becomes confined to a small circle.
Sparty and I are old timers here (don't be fooled by her post count). We remember the days where there were lots of great conversations all over the place. Many prolific contributors did not have journals. Over time, anyone who could spin a decent yarn was told repeatedly they should start a journal, so many did. The most benevolent ones (again, IMO) continue to do both.
Hell, I have a crazy long journal. I'm reluctant to start a new one, because mine is full of dangling stories and half-told lies tales. Honestly, I can't believe I've kept it going this long.
*Note to side gig seekers - tutoring looks to have a lot of upside potential.
**Yes, I know no one's getting paid to journal, the way the tutors are (well, were, in pre-pandemic days), it's just an analogy.