There are lines that become blurry when you blog about your business and you're an entrepreneur for whom business is personal. When I started this blog, I wrote about starting this company, the issues and challenges. Over the years, it became more difficult to be that open, not because I didn't want to share what I was learning or reflect on the process, but because that process involved other people. Writing is a deeply personal activity for me, a chance to reflect and synthesize and deconstruct. The point at which that thinking involves other people, however, becomes a decision point as to whether or not MY reflection and learning can negatively impact others.
The act of writing, publishing, is an act of responsibility. There are times when I struggle with the balance of my own reasons for blogging and respecting the privacy of other people in my life. Sometimes that means that I'll just write about purely work or professional topics. Sometimes that means that I'll write personal stuff but try not to write about anyone else.
Sometimes that means that I stop blogging for awhile.
Today I wrote for hours, reflecting on the current state of my personal and professional lives. It has been weeks since I've posted something here and I had finally caught my breath and wrote it all down, how I was feeling, what I was thinking. It was awesome. But I couldn't hit publish. I sat and looked at what I had written and then I deleted it. I deleted it because sometimes you have to just write for you. Sometimes there isn't a good reason to let the world into your thought process. Sometimes its just vanity to reveal the good, the bad, and the ugly. Sometimes you need to not just be a writer, but an editor too.
I think there is a balance to strike between the personal and professional. I love to read a great professional reflective post, but I also love to read about someone's personal journey. It reminds me that we're all just figuring our way through this crazy maze. But these days, when everything you publish online is saved, cached, and accessible in the Library of Congress, I think privacy is sometimes overlooked. I value my privacy and I respect the privacy of others. So I hit delete, and I'm writing this post instead.
Be kind to one another, everybody. These are exciting times and we're all in this together.
