Staying True to Myself...and to You

 
There are two types of people in this world. Those who blog and those who don't. People who choose not to claim their own little piece of the internet and put themselves out there will never understand how therapeutic and freeing it can be, despite how scary it feels sometimes. They'll never experience, especially the people closest to us in our everyday lives, the kind of acceptance and non-judgement we discover from these perfect strangers we grow to call friends.

  When I first began blogging after my car accident I revealed nothing of myself. Over the following two years I slowly rediscovered who I am and became more comfortable with what I found. I consider this a victory, because for a while I had lost some of my self-confidence and sense of self-worth. I not only pulled out of the place I was in but became what I think (and hope) is a better version of myself. On a few occasions, most recently this past weekend, I've had people I'm closest to tell me I should change the way I present myself online. That's not going to happen.

  I'm a very curious person, emotional and at times intense and I like writing about what I feel or what I find in myself or others. Once in a while I lose a reader or two (usually coinciding with a post involving sexuality). I'm fine with that; everyone has their likes and dislikes and I only want people who are comfortable with me to follow this blog. There are members of my family who won't read me for the same reason, and to be honest I prefer it that way. I think the biggest mistake someone starting a blog can make is to mention it to somebody who will eventually want to censor and mould them into something they think they should be.

 I make every effort to be open with people, I welcome different points of view and I accept those who disagree with me.  But I expect the same in return. I believe we shouldn't be afraid to be ourselves and express that to others, whether we know them or not. Some people will love us for it, some will tolerate us and some will be uncomfortable with it all. That's just life. During my time blogging I've discovered writers who are constantly uplifting, some who are negative, dark, spiritual, Aetheist, worldly, naive, and in some cases people who face significant psychological issues. I accept whatever people share with me publicly or privately, if it's something I take serious issue with I may choose not to get to know them. But I'll never expect someone to change to suit me.

And I'll never hide who I am here just to make someone feel better. Ever.