March 27, 2013
Soul Searching is for the Couch - Not the Internet
I share too much, or at least I used to, but not anymore.  For safety reason, I don't like people knowing where I am at any particular time or will be going in the future. Also sharing being upset can backfire, because a person can get over being upset, but the printed word stays forever. It is for these reasons that I no longer use Facebook.

We are losing a sense of privacy also a sense of specialness with the most personal details of our lives becoming public knowledge. So to combat this trend, I don't chat about myself and even watch what I send in emails to so-called friends (especially Internet friends), because that too can come back to haunt a person. People like to gossip.  When I was upset at my sister, I sent some emails that really weren't intended to be as harsh as they appeared in print - in print the punch was extreme, then I tried to make amends and she said - "I have kept your emails and re-read them so I remember always what you said." How shocking. If a person is going to save and rehash old emails, how can relationship improve? Or if the trival becomes the size of a mountain, where can a person go from there but downhill.

Hence, I am very careful about what I email and don't read or use facebook. What is bothering is there seems no way to hide these days, not even where we live, and I believe so much of our lives need to be private and personal and not for the public or even neighbors' consumption. By broadcasting our inner most thoughts and feelings to the world, we risk making our lives trival.

I think of my daughter, who is an MD.  She was living outside the United States and working in a clinic.  She had a blog and wrote about her trials, sorrows, depression, difficulties with life etc. Even though I tried to tell her broadcasting these feelings was not wise, she did it anyway, and rather quickly was taken off the active MD duty and put in an administration position.

The less people know the personal details of your life the better. Soul searching is for the therapy couch and a good trusted counseler, not for Facebook, the Internet, personal blogs, or emails that can be shared.

L.


Posted by Staff at 10:44 AM