If I was asked that question two or three years ago, the answer would have been quite different. Of course not unrecognizably so, but removed enough that one could be forgiven for thinking I was speaking of a different place. In a sense I was…. Atangard is no longer that attractive, exciting, intangible ideal that was developing in the fall of 2007 and is now a somewhat mundane reality. Not that it is boring; Oh by no means! Rather it is no longer cerebral, it has become very physical. To put it another way, for me in this past year Atangard has gone from almost completely philosophical to nearly entirely practical. Don’t get me wrong, I would not change a moment of this reality to return to those days of imagining it, but I do miss those days.
I guess in order to describe accurately what Atangard means to me now, I must reconcile it with what it was to me in the past and what I want it to be in the future. I will try to do that in a single phrase but it will be at the expense of all the other ideas, actions and relationships that make up the essence of Atangard.
What Atangard was to me: A place where the current social trend of isolationism and individualism will be countered.
What Atangard is to me: A place where strangers become friends and we learn to love people despite our selfishness.
What I Want Atangard to be: A place where people’s passions are shared by others in both thought and action.
Of course just because I was, doesn’t mean it is that no longer nor just because I desire it for the future is it not here and now, yet this is where i feel the mindset of the majority lies right now and where I want it to go.