h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Who are the Willem Love Collective?

Fenny and Purplejenny answered this one. Willem was suffering what on this site should probably be called a 'long dark teatime of the soul'. Thankfully he sent an email to one of his online friends here, and she contacted as many others as she could. A group of people who knew Willem from h2g2, topica and emails then spent hours trying to contact him in every way they could. LeKZ (who many people will remember as Arpeggio) spent hours on the phone to the South African Police (who couldn't have cared less about the situation, it must be said).

What comes so strongly out of the emails and posts of that time is love directed as a force of will across the miles, and also desperation and exhaustion.

Reading back through the emails which I have, I see that LeKZ sent one entitled "Willem's own international safety net", which indeed is what those people were that day and night. The first email I have using the words "The Willem Love Collective" did indeed come from Purplejenny.

LeKZ then suggested that one of the pages used that night be "turned into a sort of 'Meditations Park' at h2g2, where people could just go, and leave thoughts, or poetry, or just a and not have some of the high-stress and high-angsty discussions that are going on elsewhere".

There was some debate about the mechanism of this, and finally one of the members of the WLC opened up a hotmail account, and a user page on h2g2, and circulated the details to the rest of the group.

What do you like about the idea behind the project?

It is love in action - love as a wanton act of communication - love almost as an act of agression, if that is not too much of an oxymoron. And it is also a communal thing. Different individuals sign on and edit the pages. It is like tending a garden, you are never sure what will have sprung up while you were away.

Do you think h2g2 is 'a community'?

I certainly know of no other online place which could have created the love necessary for the intervenion that evening. At the time I was reminded very strongly of how the village I lived in reacted when some 12 year olds raped a 7 year old way back when. A group of people coming together to take action in compassion, strength, sorrow, fear, and sheer bloody love.

However I think h2g2 is several communities. One thing which I personally found enriching about the time immediately after September 11th was that we all came out of our different ghettos and posted in the Twin Towers threads. I met long term researchers I never even knew about in those threads.


How do you think the guide can be made an even happier, friendlier place?

I am not sure this is necesary. Friendly is good, but happiness is a by-product not an end-product and you cannot make someone or something happy. Neither is it right that anyone should be happy all of the time. We learn in our troughs, though we may prefer the peaks.

Who are the Willem Love Collective in RL?

All sorts, and you should get indivudual answers from individual researchers. I am Brit, and as I say in my user-space: I am a hick from some particularly beautiful sticks, and obsessive about things like dark skies at night, the sound of cars, and what is being done to British rural communities. I tend to work abroad. And I enjoy the
I am in the final run from being in my 30s to reaching my 40s. I don't give a damn what people think, but I care very much about how they feel.

So there are my two cents worth.

a girl called Ben

So much for shorthand


Dancer

- Who are the Willem Love Collective? I think there's a list of researchers on our Page! A girl called Ben answered the question adequately. If you want to know more, you can read the entry named 'Where I Was' in my Journal on my Uspace. You can also read the entry named 'What I wanted to Say' one the WLC page, which also has something about the original idea behind the WLC. The Willem Love Collective will increase in size, I hope, as new people learn about what we do and decide they want to join too.

- What do you like about the idea behind the project?

The WLC as a whole: that it is an 'oasis of love and positivity'. The goal of the project is neatly framed in a way this is almost guaranteed to be constructive and valuable.

The reggabwoW project: that it is also framed in such a way that we have to endeavour to see everything that is good in people, and do something for them that they will appreciate and that will improve their outlook.

- Do you think h2g2 is 'a community'?

Not yet ... there are communities *in* h2g2, but the entire site is not a community; there are pieces and people that are 'loose' from the rest, there is some internal division. I think we can do with activities to unify and strengthen the various communities that exist here ... and I think the WLC can help with such community-building.

- How do you think the Guide can be made an even happier, friendlier place?

By encouraging positive interactions ... that people talk to each other more, learn from each other more. The reggabwoW project does encourage that. There is much *more* that we can do, still. I will have ideas over time and suggest them to people. We need to encourage tolerance and openmindedness, too. There is still much intolerance, bias and closed/narrowmindedness here. Instead of *attacking* such attitudes, we at the WLC can simply put in a lot of work into displaying the opposite, positive, loving attitudes to people.

- Who are the Willem Love Collective in RL?

I can't answer for everyone else. I am a 29-year-old guy who lives in South Africa and suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. I have had virtually no real-life friends, but have made lots of friends through the internet - primarily h2g2. These friends of mine helped me when things seemed dark and hopeless for me. Now, in large part thanks to their help, I am getting lots of help in RL, and I hope making friends here, too. I may soon get to meet in person one of the people I've met here.

- How can other people get involved?

Very easily! They only need to ask ... they can simply contribute some good and kind words to our pages, or if they have time join the reggabwoW project, or if they have really good ideas, suggest them to us, and start projects of their own!

- How long will it take to greet everyone?

Forever (or, as long as h2g2 exists), since new people will keep on joining!

Righty-ho! I hope that helps!

Willem

Hey, Frankie Roberto, don't forget about this!

Oh he wont !


Dancer

No of course not!

I've got to plough through it all and edit it together tomorrow and tuesday...

Night for now!

Frankie

The interview has been published: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A654743 !

well done!

thank you, frankie, from the bottom of my heart.

Yes, Frankie, thanks very much!

Hey - long time no sea!

Yes, Frankie, thanks very much!

Hey - long time no sea!

That's alright, thanks for giving me the 'you are loved' message...

Youre welcome



Dancer