I continue to struggle with sharing on the internet. For the last several years I have based my thoughts on the writing being primarily for mea record of my days for our children to look back on when I am gone and know who I was, what I thought about things, what my dreams were, my fears, and my hopes.
While writing a “personal blog”essentially a public journalthis plan was fine; the writing got published, the occasional person stumbled across it, and life went on.
I’m no longer writing a “personal blog” though; by taking part in communities such as Google+, the line drawn between it being “about me”, and “about others” has almost been erasedand it opens a can of worms.
The problem isn’t perhaps the content of our own interaction with either our own content, or the content published by others, but the perception of our interactions.
I will typically only “follow” people on social networks such as Google+ because they share interesting, original, or thought provoking content with the community. If they happen to be the opposite sex, no eyebrows may be raisedif they also happen to be attractive, the cynical part of me says people will pause. If I “like” or comment on any kind of candid or explicit thought, story, or photo, I can almost feel attention turning towards meand yet I also know that it’s either unfounded, or should be completely ignored.
What is so wrong in telling somebody that you like them? Where is the harm in speaking your mind, and telling somebody that you like what they wrote, or they look great, lifting them when they are down, laughing with them, or sympathising? It doesn’t always mean there is any great plan behind the words, and yet we worry about the perception of our actions.
Perhaps it’s time to forget about perception, and to be true to ourselves.
Goethe said “be bold, and might forces will come to your aid”
Be bold. Be mighty.