I’ve been getting pretty in my head recently about over-sharing.
Do people really want to know? Am I being weird here? Did I just ruin a potential friendship by opening up too soon? Is this person going to think I’m weak? Did I talk to them about this before? I don’t want to sound like this is all I talk about. I want to mention my blog because there is a lot of good content there — but will this person think I just want more followers? What if they don’t find my story relevant? What if they read my blog and avoid me because now they know too much?
I get really hung up on these things. Last week I was asked to write a short blurb about myself for the women’s newsletter at my church. My family moved to a new city a few months ago, so this newsletter is a great way for me to help other women get to know me! In church, we’ve had some really lovely lessons on fear, growth, and unity… and in those lessons I have shared bits about my story with anxiety and depression and medical conditions. I’ve kept it vague enough, despite trying to be authentic, because I didn’t want to be too forward in a new setting. But what I shared was really well received and some women have expressed gratitude for my willingness to be open.
So, when I sat down to write my snippet, the words just flowed out of me. I allowed myself to be real and sent it off to the woman who will get it in the newsletter.
