Monday, May 18, 2015

Retraction

A few of you may have noticed that I had a post up on Saturday about my personal experiences and feelings about aging. After reconsidering, I decided it was best to take it down and not have it out there for the world to see. Although it had an overall positive message and it was not likely to be read by anyone involved, I still felt as if I needed to respect the situation and the people it was about.

It was one of my more heartfelt posts where I explored my emotions more than I usually do. As you have probably noticed, this is not a blog where you will learn about my innermost thoughts and feelings. That's because my strongest feelings involve relationships with other people and I don't feel that I can share other's trials and tribulations even if they involve me. Their stories are theirs to tell, not mine. Of course, I will talk about others with simple things like we went for a walk or grilled asparagus for supper. I occasionally share what my kids did when they were in the under 10 set. But I don't share what scares me, saddens me, or angers me about those close to me. Sometimes I want to and that's what I recently did before I removed it.

Several years ago, my mother wrote her autobiography. Her childhood was quite challenging, so she had a lot of interesting material to work with. But I thought she was leaving out some of the best stories that had a part in shaping her life. However, she told me that some of the people in those particular unflattering stories were still alive, so she wasn't going to write anything about them out of respect.  I didn't understand at the time, but I do now.

I think there's actually a very fine line between writing a tell-all blog and sharing enough to be relateable. After three years, I'm still trying to find this balance. For all of you out there who are able to share your innermost feelings, I admire you. But for now, you'll be getting the sanitized version of me.

Note: If I mention anyone in a significant way in one of my posts, I let them read it and approve it before I post it.