Thank you for 5 amazing years!

TheDuchy has been around since 2000.  But in 2017, I decided to take a risk.  Up until that time, TheDuchy had been a passion project.  Not everyone can get to a rope class or convention.  Not everyone has the support of a local community.  Not everyone can get to a rope class, or even find one.  I wanted to make high-quality, detailed tutorials available so that anyone could get to them, regardless of location.

By 2017, I had worked out a style that made it easy to see the details of my tutorials and that many seemed to like.  I had built 40 tutorials or so, and was recieving a lot of positive feedback and requests to add more.  So I decided to take the risk and try to bring things to the next level.  I would open a members-only section and dedicate more time to building more material, improving the quality of that material, get much better web hosting and add other features.

You.  You amazing people.  You have made that decision worth it.  Since then we have built to hundreds of tutorials on many topics at all levels of skill; we have added videos, but still kept the pics & text; we have added closed captioning; we have added automatic translations for our friends that speak other languages; and next year we will be releasing a highly-anticipated book.

These last 5 years have been amazing.  And it is all because of you.  YOU made this possible.  Thank you.  Deeply, genuinely: Thank you.  You make it worth it.

Today is a major holiday in the U.S.  This is a day of Thanksgiving where we gather together with people that are important to us and give thanks for them and for other important things.

I am thankful for you.

My best to you and yours,

Lazarus

P.S.:  The holiday season is a time of joy for many, but for others it can be incredibly hard.  Especially if you are feeling lonely.  If you are feeling this way, know that you do have a community.  Rope people around the world are an amazing community.  If you haven’t considered reaching out before, perhaps now is the time.  I have an article on finding a mentor; that same advice is great for finding local community.  You have a head start: You already know you have at least one thing in common!  If nothing else, If you find yourself at the end of your rope and need someone to connect with, even to just say high or share something cool you did or ask a question.  I am here.  If you need to talk, reach out.  I will listen.