It happens to everyone at some point in their life.

You grow up and the inevitible follows: all your friends grow up, go to college, move away, get married and have babies. The world expands beyond the little town you grew up together in. Those kindred spirits you spent late nights sharing your life with and talking about your dreams have gone away and taken part of your heart with them. You’ve moved past talking about it to actually doing it. Life happens. And you know what? Sometimes you just want to be back in your bedroom, talking, laughing and once again sharing your lives with the ones you love most:  your friends and family. So that’s why. Xanga is like my reconnection with those friends & family (and friends who are like family) who moved: to NYC, Washington, Commerce, Tyler, Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and all points in between. Even if the chaos of life prevents us from talking on the phone, our blogs keep each other close.

FROM WHY

first of all, i’m amazed at how many people have submitted entries.  there’s been awesome responses coming in at this point and each one is carefully read and considered.  so that each entry has ample attention, many of the submitted entries will be on queue now and you’ll see them in the coming days.  i’ll do my best to update on a regular basis.  here are some more ideas to throw out there and guidelines that will help push on our initiative:

• keep the entries short if you can.  or better yet, also use pictures to share your thoughts as well. 
  
  
• one idea is to also share pictures – such as, you meeting xanga friends.  but keep in mind, hope to keep this site clean enough to make your mother proud…
  
  
• poems are awesome…even if they don’t rhyme.  basically be creative!
  
  
• where the videos at?  there are several websites out there that let you upload videos – so if you got a link of one that fits the why initiative, then send it over!
  
  
• if there’s an entry you like to see, let the person know!  there should be a link at the end of each entry where you can visit their page and find out more.  after all, that’s what this site is all about -each other.  for all the anon people, leave a comment on that post! 
  
  
• by submitting entries, you grant xanga.com/why a perpetual, royalty-free license to use, distribute, publish, edit, and otherwise exercise all copyright and publicity rights with respect to blah blah blah blah.  basically that it’s ok to use your material.  if you don’t want this stuff used, then simply don’t submit it.    but generally if this becomes something big, i’ll definitely be contacting you about it.
  
  
  
• also keep the submissions coming!  even if you already submitted one, doesn’t mean you can’t submit another!  remember, you can be anonymous if you want.

and if you have any suggestions to help improve this site, please do share…thanks!

I joined Xanga because of a friend of mine. I wanted to have a place where I could let things out, vent, open up, and get advice from people who aren’t just trying to be nice. I’ve got all that and more. In the course of a year (I’ve been a member about 15 months), I’ve met many people and made many friends. In fact, in 5 days I’m about to fly to meet 2 more people from Xanga. It’s really neat how there are so many people out there who have similar experiences or are just plain funny. Sometimes, the cryptic messages leave a lasting impression and the comments are always welcoming and encouraging. Plus, it’s a great distraction from the daily mundane of school and/or work.

I first found out about Xanga shortly after I found out I was pregnant.
Being 20 and pregnant was hard for me because no one else my age knew
what I was going through around here. All my friends supported it, but
still wanted to do things with me that I no longer could do anymore.
So, sitting at home all the time became something I had to do. I
started my blog and started talking about my feelings and my
up-and-down roller coaster of emotions about my pregnancy. Soon,
blogrings were introduced to me and WOW! Little did I know that there were SO many other girls out there that were going through the same thing as me.
During this long pregnancy – that is soon to be over next week!! – I
have been able to keep my sanity and make so many new friends through
Xanga. It’s been a miracle for me to have somewhere to go and talk to
other girls around my age with questions and concerns that I’ve had.
Being able to talk about things and express feelings through Xanga has been a lifesaver. Thank you Xanga for being there during this time of big bellies and lots of bathroom breaks!!