Why sharing my writing scares me

I think I’m afraid to share my work because I’m scared that people are going to take the one thing they read that I wrote, and use it to form an opinion of me. Even though its only one thing, one idea, one thought, one observation, or one view out of a million that I have, it’s not going to be the collective one million that makes up who I am in their mind, it’s going to be the one thing that someone reads and doesn’t like.

And that’s what scares me and stops me from wanting to share. Because I see how people form their opinions. I see how they do it to other people. I see how they take something that someone said or did completely out of context and use it to from their whole opinion of that person. I see people do this in front of me all the time, and I don’t believe for a second that they don’t do it to me when I’m not in the room.

I know they do because I know they don’t have enough self control to stop themselves, or pick and choose who gets unjust criticism and who does not. It’s behavior that I’ve observed over and over again in strangers, friends, and family. 

And the thing is, I don’t want to give people any more ammunition than they already have by sharing everything that’s comes to my mind, and all of my intimate moments in this world. I don’t want to. But, I’m also burdened by an uncontrollable and burning desire to share and communicate with that small percentage of the population who actually has an open mind, and who is looking to connect. Because that’s what I want, and the medium that calls to me is writing.

So, I’m throwing caution to the wind, because I’ve decided that when I die, I will have lived a much more fulfilled, authentic, and enjoyable life if I just laid it all out, than if no one ever criticized me, misinterpreted what I said, or used my words against me.

So, on this website, I will continue to try to leave it all to bare.