[Kate!]

Originally Posted by Redway

I wouldn’t even call it oversharing, though, Maru. I give a lot of voice to my daily irritations which I don’t give voice to in the offline world, so that thread is like a cathartic release, but I’m still fundamentally very reserved when it comes to getting into anything personal, and that applies to me as I am offline as well as on here (and on other forums). I reveal a few bits and bobs here-and-there but none of it deeply telling of what’s truly personal. I get what you’re saying about a vein of neuroticism and, again, that’s another thing I wouldn’t dare get into on the open, because that’s not one of the things I’m comfortable delving into except on a one-to-one basis with people I’ve personally vetted out and trust enough, but yeah. I know this forum has people who like to assume over-familiarity with various strangers (that’s not aimed at you at-all, btw) but we all draw the veil somewhere, and my bar’s inherently low, because I’m just naturally someone who sits on way more than I ever reveal, even anonymously online. That irks people who like to assume over-familiarity and project onto you for reasons that probably have nothing to actually do with you as you truly are (again, not talking about you), but I’m always eager to draw that boundary.

So, yeah. I have to disagree with you a little on the oversharing bit. What I air on that thread is small enough for me to be relatively casually explicit about. It’s more release (a little tongue-in-cheek here-and-there, building on my rep. for being a complainer) than reveal. The big-fry, the truly personal? That’s tucked away more than I ever give flashes of them on here (and only then when it’s apt and fits the context). It’s all me, but a version of me curated for different spaces. No bluff, but no getting truly personal with most people, either. Only the people who have more access to that side of me, and there aren’t many of them on this forum, who I’d share those things with. Like I say, it’s curated. Selective.

What a great post. Thanks for that insight.