In this video I’m going to talk to you about how fearing what other people think can stop us from going after what we want—and how it’s still important to consider the privacy of people we care about.
When thinking about sharing your story online, whose opinion am I most worried about? I have four videos on this topic, and this is video number three. Make sure to check out the other three videos in this series.
Question number three, when thinking about sharing your story online, whose opinion am I most worried about? I have four videos on this topic, and this is video number three, so be sure to head to my profile for the rest. If you're new here, my name is Rachel and I have been a mental health writer, advocate, and content creator for about four and a half years. And I have learned a tremendous amount about the pros and cons of sharing your stories so openly online. So I wanted to share a little bit of wisdom.
When I first started writing about my mental health, I was terrified about what my parents would think. I wanted to write about my childhood, which meant exposing them and their parenting to my audience. And I was also afraid of what a potential partner might think if we started dating and they could learn so much about me with just a simple Google search. And these were things that, in a lot of ways, inhibited me from writing for a very long time. So I had to weigh the pros and cons of their opinions.
And I determined ultimately, the person whose opinion mattered the most was my own and the people I might help. And this was a hard determination. And I had to have a lot of conversations with my parents about this. And despite believing that it was the right choice for me, it hasn't been perfect. And at times, I do regret sharing as much as I did. So now I'm in a season of pulling back and sharing fewer details or naming people in my life in my content because I want to protect their privacy. So sometimes we try and answer these questions for ourselves and we don't get it right all the time.
But this is why I think, now, looking back, I think it's really important before starting to ask ourselves these questions, to ask whose life might it impact? How much does that matter? You know, how much does that relationship matter to me? How much does their opinion matter to me? Is it something that's getting in the way of me writing? And because of that, I'm not being true to myself and my goals and my dreams? Or is it the reality that I might be exposing their privacy and their relationship matters to me more than this?
You know, this impact or this dream that I have? And weighing those pros and cons is really hard, and we might not get it exactly right. And I think it's important that you ask these questions of yourself. I hope that was a helpful tip. Make sure to check out the other three videos in this series. And as always, if you have questions, please feel free to drop them in the comments. See you next time.
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