I often wonder after I blog if I have shared too much. I definitely have things that I don’t share, mostly because other people are involved in the stories. I try to never share things that involve anyone else unless I ask their permission or feel I can make the post generic enough to keep the identity of others private.
In one of our noon day services this Holy Week, a preacher quoted Aristotle- “An unexamined life is not worth living.” While doing research I found the quote attributed to Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. Who knows who actually said it. I wasn’t there, so I couldn’t say.
What does matter is that someone else thought that questioning things and examining who we are and what we believe is a good thing. A friend and I talked not long ago about how much simpler life would be if we didn’t really examine what we say, what we think, what we do.
I have friends who never share anything, I have friends who go along with everything, I have people I know who think doubting leads to trouble and that being open about their life opens them up for problems. I know folks who think everything is lovely on the surface, so why dive any deeper? They don’t want to see what awful things lurk below.
I have to respect their views. I don’t agree with them, but it is not my business.
When I admit I am scared, I then feel foolish as I step in to do the thing I am scared of. I wonder if people are judging me extra harshly because they know so much about me. They know my weaknesses, they know my fears, they know where and how to get me upset and flustered. They see the weak side of me when I am trying to appear strong.
Time and time again, however, I see or hear from people who feel the same fears I do, who have the same weakness, the same issues. Just yesterday I was meeting with someone for the first time and they said, ” I have anxiety. There I said it!” And they seemed relieved to get that out of the way and move on. I didn’t think less of them, I thought they were strong to admit it and it helped me understand their reactions to things.
I see other performers who come across as so confident, even full of themselves, who then admit they are terrified or at the very least nervous as they wait to go on stage. I think most all of us have some anxiety as performers. And the others probably just aren’t saying.
We are all in this together and if sharing too much information helps someone else feel better or at least open up, I’ll do it all day long.
In the process, I rethink, reevaluate, and reposition myself by writing it all down and sharing it.
So- do I share too much information? Probably. But I don’t think I’ll stop anytime soon.
