Thanks for the nice words about my blog- I appreciate it.

I’m guessing we’re around the same age (I’m nearly 30, though I still get carded when I buy lotto tickets, so go figure), so I, too, remember the days before Twitter and Facebook and cell phones. And I think that, combined with a deep need for privacy, has enabled me to keep my life balanced in terms of what I share.

What has helped me is the fact that I was a writer for a long time before I started blogging. I started writing on my college newspaper in 1998, and with that writing came an understanding of being “out there” with your writing. That is, I am acutely aware of the fact that people are reading and seeing and yes, even judging, my words and photos and everything else about me. And I’ve had my experiences with being misunderstood, both deliberately and accidentally. So I’m careful to share enough that I know my readers have the same understanding of the situation that I do, but not so much that I’d be embarrassed if other people found out.

It’s odd for someone who IS so private to have a memoir and a public blog, but what I don’t think people realize is the amount of stuff I don’t and won’t share. My announcement of a massive relapse this past June caught many people by surprise, and in a way, that was good, because it told me I wasn’t (for lack of a better term) vomiting my issues all over the internet. It told me I had found that balance between sharing my struggles and successes in recovery while avoiding anything overtly triggering.

My blog has my real name attached to it, and I joined Facebook as a way to network for freelance writing jobs. I never really mention ED stuff on Facebook, although it’s fairly obvious from my groups that the issue is personally relevant. For me, the idea of having your entire life out there online is new enough that I continue to be wary. I don’t think most adolescents have the insight of just how much a stupid little thing can come back and bite you in the butt later. I know I probably didn’t.

Carrie