I recently watched an episode of House M.D. (I have finished all 8 seasons now) where a woman put every aspect of her life online in a blog. She even went so far as to seek important, life altering medical advise from her blog followers. Needless to say, this cause a short lived rift between her and her husband.
My point to this post is … how much of your life do you put out there for everyone to read? Do you, like the fictional woman in the episode, put everything out there or do you pick and choose what you want to share with the world at large?
As for myself, well, I pick and choose. There are things about me and my life that I don’t want anyone to know about, things that are way to personal to share. On the other hand, there are times that I just wanna put it out there for support or much needed help. I have also been known to want to post on a subject just for sympathy, but I always change my mind and never hit the Publish button.
There are certain things about my life that I am more than willin’ to share with you, my readers and any potential readers. Things about my childhood, my many adventures with my mom and son(s), silly anecdotes, things I believe in, etc.
I’m not sayin’ anything against folks that do share everything about their personal lives, and in fact some of it makes for very interestin’ readin’, it’s just not for me.
So, how much do you put out there and more interestingly, if you put it all out there, why?
Thanks for readin’.
Tim
The Hillbilly Blogger 
I’m selective. First, I don’t write anything I wouldn’t want my family to read, because I’m sure some of them do. I write about my kids on occasion but I’ll never share their surname, which is not the same as mine. But still, I often wonder if I’m making too much of my life public. I suppose I feel a bit insulated by the fact that there are so many people on the internet, and I’m far from famous. … so far. 😛
Excellent, thought-provoking post, Tim. 🙂
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Thanks Linda, I’m not famous either but I’m workin’ on it lol
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Haha! Aren’t we all? 🙂
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I throw everything out there because I was mostly anonymous until very recently. There are some things I hope some people never see, but not because of anything other than it would just be a hassle. There are a few things I haven’t shared, believe it or not, not sure if I will get to that point or not though.
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I’m glad that you can be so open, I just can’t bring myself to be that way though.
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It isn’t easy, and some days I wonder what the heck was I thinking…but it is better to play it safe if you aren’t ever sure. 🙂
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I remember that episode!
In my case, my blog is fictional, but the people and pets in the photos are real — so you see who I live with, you just don’t know much about them. Can’t say I mind that. Anonymity works for me.
I have to say, though, that I admire people who can put everything out there. That requires an artistic courage that I just don’t have.
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Same here Karen, I also admire folks that can be so forthcoming with their lives.
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I pick and choose. Like you there are things I will keep to myself. I feel weird posting anything other than fun things on my blog because that is what people generally expect, but sometimes things just have to be said 🙂
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That’s so true, I also try to keep a light, fun air with my blog but sometimes my emotions and thoughts just take over lol
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I am very selective. I think we should not forget that everything we write is public and leaves its traces on the net forever.
I use my blog as a reference in job applications, too, and I am surely careful about stuff that is too personal for my employer to know!
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That’s true and it’s something I think about every time I post somethin’. I had never considered usin’ a blog for job references though, great idea! 😀
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Hey stranger, glad o see a post from you. I pick and choose, there are certain things that others just dont need to know about, i dont post about it if my husband and i have an argument because it would be one sided and that aint right, i also dont talk about our sex life its personal and 2 of my sons plus my mother in law read my blog im sure they wouldnt care to read that. By the way i love House, i have all 8 seasons on dvd and i definitely think that frankie the girl from that episode went to far.
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Well, I don’t have a sex life so I can’t write about it lol and the only arguments I have are with a four year old so those wouldn’t be very interestin’ either 🙂 About House, I used to absolutely hate the show, refused to watch it, until I started watchin’ it on Netflix, now I can’t wait for the newest season to be added lol And I agree with you, she went way too far.
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I love House! We are only up to season5 but it’s a nightly thing for us (thank you Netflix!).
As for what i blog, it depends. I may share more than I’m obvious about, dressing the story up a bit, changing the places peoples and stuffs….but then, again, i may be more obvious than i believe i am 😀 i do do a lot of self editing, and there are something i just don’t talk about. I hear you when you say there are times you want to throw it all out there in hopes of some feedback, advice, sympathy, empathy. Sometimes i just need to vent and occasionally even those posts end up with me hitting the publish button. I know I’m a lot more transparent in my life now than i when i was younger. Perhaps the same will happen as my blog grows up. Or maybe not. 🐾🐾
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I’ve had so many posts that were, to me, just pure whining and self pity that I just couldn’t hit the publish button in good conscience lol From your blog, I gather that you are kinda like me when it comes to really personal stuff, you keep it to yourself for the most part.
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I stay rather anonymous for the sake of my children. (Who wants their mom embarrassing them?) Since my blog is mostly about fitness and weight loss, I get personal with my weight and fitness level, but I’ve also shared some silly stories about myself and some things about my upbringing and home life. I don’t often write with the depth that I’m capable of, because it is hard to put yourself out there to everyone. 🙂
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Kids are a good reason to be circumspect on a blog for sure and you’re right, it is hard to really put yourself out there for the whole world.
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I really like this post. It does let the mind wonder and it is actually something I face every time I think of what to blog about. Before I just didn’t know but recently I have opened up my mind more. There are things that I will not mention in a blog post, like my location and certain people’s names. There are also certain topics that I don’t feel the world needs to know. Like intimate situations. I certainly would not ask my readers what medical decision should I make. If a prognosis were to pop up then I will announce it. As far as medical treatment, that is my decision. Most of the time, when it’s personal, I just write about events that bring me joy to remember. It took a lot of nerves for me to post videos of me wrestling with my friend on YouTube before I actually did it.
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Like you, I am very cautious about just how much I share on my blog. There are many things, the most personal areas of my life, that I choose not to discuss here. When I do, it’s normally done in a way where most people would have no clue it was about me or my life anyway. There’s always a way to say what you want to say without directly saying it. 🙂
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