Cari-bein'

The Real-veal

On all the popular home decorating TV shows, when the participants are finally showed their finished rooms, it's called "the reveal." I think of my posts on this blog as "the REAL-veal."  I try to strip away any pretense or bravado or defense I might hide behind socially and let the real feelings bleed through. Okay, maybe too graphic.  But you get the idea.  
 
I've had email conversations with fellow bloggers who question whether they're too revealing in their blogs--who express their frustration over the constant balancing act of deciding exactly how much to reveal, given their readership (which often includes family members and pre-blog friends).  I don't stress over that too much, only because most of my family and friends (who've been made aware of the blogs) choose not to read them anyway.  So I have quite a bit of freedom.  Most of my readership comes from fellow bloggers, who appear (at least in my experience) to often be much more accepting and less judgmental than many of the people I've known for decades.
 
I've spent the last couple years consciously trying to expose my true feelings about certain issues primarily to unburden myself.  Because I find keeping things bottled up makes me feel burdened.  I feel heavy with the weight of all that I'm struggling to contain.  And not just to contain--also to hide.  The act of revelation for me has become a process of lightening...and of elimination.  Just as our bodies eliminate waste products, so must our souls and hearts.  Surely buildup in one's soul can't be any less toxic to our well-being than buildup in one's arteries.  And the release on the emotional and mental planes seems to only enhance well-being on the physical plane.
 
So if you do nothing else today, release and eliminate one negative feeling or thought.  Even if you don't share it with anyone else.  Say it out loud.  Say it (in the car or shower or when you're alone in a room):  today, I'm going to let go of _______________.  Say it loud and say it proud.  In fact, you might even want to shout it.

posted by Marilyn @ 6:25 AM