....and I really cannot really figure it out. But I'm going to try.....
I came across this board when I was new in sobriety. It was comforting to me to come on and read the postings of people who had more sobriety than me share their ES and H. I was attending meetings everyday. The difference was, I could share on here without the fears I had if I would have shared in meetings. No one can see me on here. I cannot see anyone on here. No judgement calls on what your expression means. Early on, in meetings this was likely.. if you happen to have something in your eye and are blinking in a strange way because of that and I happen to notice that, my mind thinks...."oh, that person is looking at me funny." Or if you look my way because you are human, I may think, oh, that person is staring at me. Is it what I am wearing? Do they like me?
And God forbid when I was sharing when I finally started to in meetings and people looked at me--which is what people do, look in the direction of whoever is sharing.
I love reading postings by certain folks, too. Maybe I shouldn't play "favorites" although I cannot help it. Some folks are just comforting to me. I miss a couple of the people who are not on here.....Mike, an oldtimer and there was a woman newcomer who came on here who was doing so well and I wonder how she is.
This board is not as wild and crazy full of people and I have to scroll forever to find particular postings. It is more intimate. Sure we get in each others "faces" sometimes. We are all alcoholics! It is going to happen. At least we don't worry about having to call the police and any of our anonymity is going to be exposed. LOL. Which has happened (rarely, but it has) at meetings.
Also, another plus is that I can get up and get as many cups of coffee as I want without waiting for someone to stop talking and no one calls me out on how much coffee I have had. (That actually happened at one of my earlier meetings when I was drinking so much more coffee. A guy called me a "pig" and said I was "hogging" all the coffee.)
I will have to say that it is 4:20 a.m. where I live. I have been on this board for a while. I woke up because I couldn't sleep (which is the main reason people wake up in the middle of the night so I am normal ) and I came right to this board instead of going to one of the millions of other sites I could go to. So that says it all.
I second this. This board was my first connection with other alcoholics. Most people will say that this board is no substitute for face to face meetings, but for me it was a safe place to transition, feel welcomed, ask questions, and process my struggles at any hour of any day. It's like having a group of awesome people in your pocket. Funny, too, because there are hundreds of other forums. Yet, this one has a particular humility and personality that i appreciate so much.
__________________
When every situation which life can offer is turned to the profit of spiritual growth, no situation can really be a bad one.-Paul Brunton
But I'm going to try.....
No one can see me on here. I cannot see anyone on here. No judgement calls on what your expression means. Early on, in meetings this was likely.. if you happen to have something in your eye and are blinking in a strange way
because of that and I happen to notice that, my mind thinks...."oh, that person is looking at me funny." 
Or if you look my way because you are human
, I may think, oh, that person is staring at me. Is it what I am wearing? Do they like me? 
It is more intimate. Sure we get in each others "faces" sometimes. We are all alcoholics! It is going to happen. 
At least we don't worry about having to call the police and any of our anonymity is going to be exposed. LOL. Which has happened (rarely, but it has) at meetings. 
(That actually happened at one of my earlier meetings when I was drinking so much more coffee. A guy called me a "pig" and said I was "hogging" all the coffee.)
) and I came right to this board instead of going to one of the millions of other sites I could go to. So that says it all. 