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Sharing this journal: On Leaving the Furry Community
10 years ago
i wanted to share this journal I found by 
Dogbomb as it not only reflects my views 100%, but I think deserves a signal boost!
I see it all the time; good folks declaring that "it's time to grow up and leave this fandom."
Suddenly they're gone. All that remains is a fur ball under the bed and a fake tail
tossed haphazardly into a trashcan.
Their story always contains a common thread and it never fails to give me droopy ears.
Seems that there is a pervasive misconception that being a furry somehow makes you
juvenile, irresponsible and unable to become a successful, productive adult.
Even inside the fandom, many believe that being a fur is something to hide from the world
at large. No real names, no sharing this joy with friends and family, reduced to living the fur life in the
shadows of everyday life.
We have some self image issues here, gang.
Let me assure you that this mindset is misinformed at best; it just ain't so!
In my way of thinking, being a furry compliments being a well rounded, contributory member of
society. Who the hell wants to live in a world where adults are reduced to bland automatons, unable to
participate in imaginary thought, scoffing at the dreams of others, never seeing past the wall
of the empirical?
Not me. I want to wag freely and and be a talking dog whenever I please.
With whomever I please.
Plastered all over social media if possible...
I want my mind left free to explore, and I want to engage in childish flights of fancy.
I firmly believe that this fandom saved my sanity in so many ways, and I can't imagine life without y'all
and my stupid animal costumes.
Of course, one must keep the blade of silly fun tempered in the heat of hard reality.
You gotta work and work and know when to be real. It'd be fun to fursuit, drink beer
and chase tennis balls all day, but the bank won't accept that as a mortgage payment.
So here's the deal: if you feel like being a pretend animal is holding you back, take a hard look at yourself
and take the time to dissect your life. Reaching your goals may mean that you spend less time browsing
FA and more time taking notes in the classroom, but does it mean that you have to give up cultivating
your imagination?
No.
Life demands balance.
Balance means the scales have equal weight on both sides.
One side is hard work and reality, but the other side is a sweaty guy in a dog costume with an ear to ear grin.
So don't leave.
We love you and want you to stay.
We also want you to be a successful human.
Why not both?
I'd like to also add that for those that wish to leave over drama, believe me, it is NOT better on the outside. You spend enough time in the furry community and you are so used to what happens here. When on the outside, it's just as bad, if not a LOT worse~go to a public area and go on YikYak. Or take a peak on grindr and talk to folks on there in a public area outside of a convention and look how much creepier people can be than you think everyone is here when you run into that rare few that might not have his head on straight on the Internet. This is all apart of life, and us furries are lucky to have a society to be a little more united and open minded than everyone else. No, we're not perfect, but never let the behavior of one person reflect the community as a whole.
This is all it really comes down to. The journal above really does reflect my views, including my sanity. I honestly don't know where I'd be if I never found this community. To many, this adds a whole new form of insanity, but what is normal? This is normal to me, and I'm fortunate enough to live in a city with a family that's fully aware that I'm both gay and a furry and accept me for who I am. I dedicate my life to being furry, but I'm still able to live a responsible and self sufficient and fulfilling life. I'm a senior in a 4 year university for a BA in media communications while working a job in live entertainment production for $15/hr plus commission for special assignments! Even with some of the disabilities I've been able to overcome.
Dogbomb as it not only reflects my views 100%, but I think deserves a signal boost! I see it all the time; good folks declaring that "it's time to grow up and leave this fandom."
Suddenly they're gone. All that remains is a fur ball under the bed and a fake tail
tossed haphazardly into a trashcan.
Their story always contains a common thread and it never fails to give me droopy ears.
Seems that there is a pervasive misconception that being a furry somehow makes you
juvenile, irresponsible and unable to become a successful, productive adult.
Even inside the fandom, many believe that being a fur is something to hide from the world
at large. No real names, no sharing this joy with friends and family, reduced to living the fur life in the
shadows of everyday life.
We have some self image issues here, gang.
Let me assure you that this mindset is misinformed at best; it just ain't so!
In my way of thinking, being a furry compliments being a well rounded, contributory member of
society. Who the hell wants to live in a world where adults are reduced to bland automatons, unable to
participate in imaginary thought, scoffing at the dreams of others, never seeing past the wall
of the empirical?
Not me. I want to wag freely and and be a talking dog whenever I please.
With whomever I please.
Plastered all over social media if possible...
I want my mind left free to explore, and I want to engage in childish flights of fancy.
I firmly believe that this fandom saved my sanity in so many ways, and I can't imagine life without y'all
and my stupid animal costumes.
Of course, one must keep the blade of silly fun tempered in the heat of hard reality.
You gotta work and work and know when to be real. It'd be fun to fursuit, drink beer
and chase tennis balls all day, but the bank won't accept that as a mortgage payment.
So here's the deal: if you feel like being a pretend animal is holding you back, take a hard look at yourself
and take the time to dissect your life. Reaching your goals may mean that you spend less time browsing
FA and more time taking notes in the classroom, but does it mean that you have to give up cultivating
your imagination?
No.
Life demands balance.
Balance means the scales have equal weight on both sides.
One side is hard work and reality, but the other side is a sweaty guy in a dog costume with an ear to ear grin.
So don't leave.
We love you and want you to stay.
We also want you to be a successful human.
Why not both?
I'd like to also add that for those that wish to leave over drama, believe me, it is NOT better on the outside. You spend enough time in the furry community and you are so used to what happens here. When on the outside, it's just as bad, if not a LOT worse~go to a public area and go on YikYak. Or take a peak on grindr and talk to folks on there in a public area outside of a convention and look how much creepier people can be than you think everyone is here when you run into that rare few that might not have his head on straight on the Internet. This is all apart of life, and us furries are lucky to have a society to be a little more united and open minded than everyone else. No, we're not perfect, but never let the behavior of one person reflect the community as a whole.
This is all it really comes down to. The journal above really does reflect my views, including my sanity. I honestly don't know where I'd be if I never found this community. To many, this adds a whole new form of insanity, but what is normal? This is normal to me, and I'm fortunate enough to live in a city with a family that's fully aware that I'm both gay and a furry and accept me for who I am. I dedicate my life to being furry, but I'm still able to live a responsible and self sufficient and fulfilling life. I'm a senior in a 4 year university for a BA in media communications while working a job in live entertainment production for $15/hr plus commission for special assignments! Even with some of the disabilities I've been able to overcome.
From him, and i agree with a lot of what he says.
I also agree that the petty drama that goes on in this community is nothing compared to what goes on IRL
It's true.
No matter what community you're apart of (even if you are not apart of a community), you just can't escape drama. It's everywhere.
As social creatures, it's what makes us who we are. Doesn't matter if you're bi or straight or gay or furry or human or neko or anime or ANYTHING. We're all in this together yet share out own individual stories. Some are awesome. Some are conflicting. But it is who we are.
Whenever I see one of my friends post a journal saying "I'm done with furries! I'm leaving!" ...all I can do is this ---> http://media.giphy.com/media/RBedde.....Xo0E/giphy.gif Because I know that either one of two things is going to happen next...
1) They'll just come back apologizing. It's even worse when they do it multiple times... =/
2) They'll deal with drama outside of the furry fandom anyway since it's inescapable.
When one of my friends decides to leave the furry fandom, i feel like they're just abandoning their friends and hightailing it outta here to get away from their problems... This does not sit well with me since i'm the type that gets rather frustrated over these kinds of actions. =/
The way I see it is this... If they leave, they leave. I'm not going to chase after them. They obviously didn't want to be around, so why would I make them even more uncomfortable and stick around them?