Am I Too Transparent?

In this age of Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, Posterous, Brightkite, Tumblr, Glue, Blogger, and on and on, could it be that I have become too transparent? I know that I am not anywhere near as transparent as some who regale us with tweets and status of the minutia of their daily lives.  I won't go into detail but you know who I mean.

Yet, I do check in on Brightkite which tweets out my location posts and status updates. Yes, my Twitter stream is dumped into my Friendfeed and Facebook status stream updates. Yes, I do have my street address, e-mail address, mobile phone number, and Google Voice out there for my friends and family to access as needed. My parent's feel that this is disclosing too much personal info. I would counter that any good on-line snoop can find out that information about me and most likely more. Why not make it easier for my family and friends to find me, see what I have been up to, contact me any way that they prefer, and remember my birthday? I really can't come up with a valid reason not to be transparent about these things.

However, I do tend to draw a gray line that is most definitely case by case specific. The specifics of my health are not something that I tend to discuss in open forums.  I might allude to something but tend keep the specifics to private lines of communication. I just don't feel that this topic is meant for public consumption as I am not a public figure. In part, I would admit to a bit of fear of potential discrimination. My disease does not define me but I do fear that it could in the eyes of some esp. here in the Midwest.

I also tend to leave my intimate and family matters out of the stream as:

a) most would probably not care

b) I would not subject ya'll to that

c) I would hope that we are allowed some privacy in our lives

What are your thoughts? 

How much information do you share?

Are you even aware of how you are sharing your information?

Do you feel that our society is becoming or has become too transparent?

Namaste,

Mati

Tis the season....

Hola Friends,

I am not sure what it is about this time of year. Could it be the holidays, the season, the end of the calendar year, or do we just take stock of where our lives and relationships are periodically? I am just not sure but I have noticed a positive trend in the numbers of people reaching out to check on me and vice versa.

Whatever the reason, I think that is a great trend and should be kept up. It is difficult to "bury the hatchet" metaphorically especially with those that we love and care for. We get all tied up in the "blame" game of "he said" or "she said". We need to push on thru these divisive thoughts and get to the other side where we can work on becoming the better people, friends, and family that we know that we are capable of.

The Past is just that....the Past. We cannot change it but we can use it as a tool to grow and change and hopefully to not doom us to repeat the same mistakes that many of us seem dead set on doing. I am a great example of how this should not work as I let the filter of my past behaviors and action take over and lead to believe that "no good can come of this".

BS is my answer. Good is where we make it and find it in our lives.

So, I ask that you take a few minutes out of your hectic schedule and just remind yourself of all the good that is happening around you. Then, take it a little farther and think about someone that you used to interact with on a daily if not weekly basis and somehow the relationship just foundered.

Could it be that something so seemingly insignificant as a card, text, e-mail, of phone call could be sent out just saying that you love, care for, and miss person xyz in your life? By no means will every re-connection be as easy as that but if you start putting a concerted effort into reconnection as opposed to disconnection; you will begin to see wonderful fruits from your labors.

Sometimes, we just have to open up and put ourselves out there warts and all and hope for the best. It will not all be peaches and cream but when things blossom you will wonder why you have waited so long.

In closing, the dance of our lives is always twirling around us. Don't just wait till the end of the year, the Holidays, or even someone getting ill to reach out and swing a loved one into a sweet two step.

Namaste.
Mati :-)