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Focusing Discussion List Guidelines

These guidelines are meant as a gentle reminder of how we wish to be together in the Focusing Discussion List. 

Thank you for your thoughtful contributions to the List!

  • Our Moderators are volunteers who have taken on the role of keeping the List friendly and safe. Please contact them if you have questions and remember to treat them with kindness. They can be reached at [email protected].
  • Topics under discussion need to be clearly relevant to Focusing. If you feel that a topic is not relevant to Focusing, you might wish to privately ask the moderator about it, rather than criticizing the post publicly.
  • Pause. Please read and write with a Focusing attitude.
  • We want this List to be light and friendly for a diverse and international audience. For some people, this is their first or only contact with the Focusing community.
  • Some conversations might be more appropriate outside the List, especially if they are “hot topics.” Consider offering a Zoom meeting for those interested in such topics, so the conversation can be had in a Focusing way.
  • It is OK to occasionally promote events or things (like books) if they are clearly relevant to Focusing, but please be mindful that this list is intended for discussion and not advertising. Moderators may hold back promotional posts if there are too many, or if they are not clearly relevant to Focusing.
  • If you are announcing a workshop, include your contact information in the text of your announcement, along with a request that interested persons respond directly to you and not to the list.
     

Respecting privacy

  • Do not post an e-mail sent to you privately, without first obtaining the written consent of the author.
  • Do not quote personal information shared on this list outside this list without written permission of the author. Remember this guideline if you choose to cc someone on your reply.
     

Technical guidelines

  • Please do not send attachments to the List.
  • Do not send your message to more than one discussion list at a time.
  • Please send your messages in plain text.  Because of how the messages display for Moderators (before posting), HTML (or Rich Text)  messages are extremely difficult to read, and therefore your message might be delayed or even rejected.
  • Be mindful of the SUBJECT line. If you are continuing an ongoing discussion, use the same subject line. If you’re starting a new topic, please create a new subject line.
  • Be mindful of the TO heading. If your reply is personal, send it to the person and not to the entire list.
  • Please add your name (or pseudonym) at the end of your post so that readers can know who has posted.
  • If you reply to an email from the list, by default it will be sent to EVERYONE on the list. If you just want to reply to the sender, you must change the email address you are sending it to.
  • You can only post from the email address that is subscribed. If a message doesn’t post, please check that you used the email address that you subscribed with.
  • To view or change your settings, or view the archives, please visit http://lists.focusinglists.org/listinfo.cgi/focusing-discussion-focusinglists.org, and follow the directions in the section: "Focusing-discussion Subscribers".

 

Updated October 2025