Don't Ask, Don't Tell

There's a lot going on in my life that I can't/won't blog about. When I started this blog, several months ago, it was to help me explore relationships. All kinds. Friendships, intimacy, communication. I wanted to increase my ability to build strong connections with the people in my life.

The public aspect of this medium actually turned out to be more cathartic than I originally thought it would be. I guess there is this feeling of "putting it out into the universe". By getting the universe involved, you were making a commitment. You were validating the importance of what you were talking about.

I also had (have) a desire to keep this blog reasonably private. Sometimes I reveal very personal thoughts or feelings that I have, or actions I have taken. However, I do not post anything too personal that would overtly reveal my identity or that would embarrass me if my identity was posted. Also, several people that know me read this blog. Friends, acquaintances, and even former bf's. Sometimes, when I write a post, I think of all the people that I know that read this blog, and I try to decide if what I wrote is "OK". Will I offend anyone? Will I hurt their feelings? Will they take it the wrong way? I try not to edit, but sometimes it's difficult.

So I'm struggling with how much I can say about some of the things I am currently experiencing. If you've been reading this blog, you know that last year was a very emotional, intense, transitional year for me. You know that I've somewhat recently experienced heartache. You know that I've been working on moving forward in my life. You know that finding a partner is important to me. You know that I've been dealing with the issue of aging.

I'd like to explore these issues more deeply. I am going to attempt to do this without sacrificing my privacy or the privacy of those I care about. And I'm going to try to do it without caring what others will think of what I wrote. I suspect the issues I want to address are probably universal, and that's why I want to share...

Here's my question to my fellow bloggers...how do you walk the fine line between openly sharing yet respecting appropriate privacy?