image by Alberto Seveso
Though I've been reveling in my recent tumblr affairs, they're far too public. I've been quite open, sharing them with family and friends; it's best to mind my manners when it comes to content there. Not that anything here is terribly shocking or revealing (and I'm hardly the type to bare all on the world wide web), but this place affords a little anonymity. Whether I need it or not, there are days when that feeling is absolutely essential.
I remember years ago, when I was in university, I spent even more time alone than I do now. (It hardly seems possible.) It wasn't extraordinary to go a day or more without speaking to a single soul. Every once in a while, in a perverse fit of misanthropy, I would test my will to silence. No matter where I went or what I had to do, I would refuse to speak. A smile for a cashier, a nod to a professor - I don't know that anyone even noticed. But the thing was, I noticed. Though I felt that I loathed to speak with people, I actively avoided contact, the moment I cracked the sound just spilled out of me. Once over the shock of the sound of my voice, I couldn't get the words out fast enough.
Now my silences are shorter, more specific. They are designed to keep distance between what I perceive as my Real Self and others. That internal me is a chattering squirrel and a bit of a spaz; too eager, too earnest, too emotional. I build up a confident, quiet persona, a levee to keep my straining, muddy, destructive rush of self at bay. People relate to that person, not to me (and honesty is no temptation with people who believe the lie). Keeping my mouth shut is just easier, safer. I don't trust my impulses to have a finishing point - not food or fear or desire. When the levee breaks, I have no place to stay.
But that crap does tend to build up. That's why I keep coming back here - so I can propel my excess out into the ether before I'm tempted to flood them out into my life.
Wait - what was I going to talk about today?
I don't even remember.
g.
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