Nov 04 Disclosure #NHBPM Carnival

Today’s prompt: “How do you decide what to share and what not to share.”

This is pretty easy.  When I think disclosure, I always think to myself, what is my ultimate goal for blogging?  When I was at my sickest and feeling extremely lost, I scoured the Internet for anything and everything that could help me.  I found so many blogs that gave me hope AND information.  It was actually from someone else’s blog, that I started to think I had POTS before I was even diagnosed.  After finding out I had POTS, I felt so thankful that I came across this person’s site; a person who was so willing to put their life out there for the world to see.

Reading her story became the catalyst to begin my own blog.

I became passionate that maybe if I wrote about my journey too, others going through similar trials may also stumble upon a little hope, information, and maybe even an answer or two.  Nothing brings tears to my eyes more than when I hear, “Your blog keeps me moving forward.”

I have even been told, “Your blog has kept me from taking my life. Thank you for sharing your story.”

Chew on that for a moment.

I still get chills.

That’s why I write.

Further, I have learned that every single person is living a story.  It is up to us to decide what we share and what we don’t.  This is different for every single person.

When it comes to EDS and POTS, I am pretty much an open book.  I always make it a point to put everything I learn out there from doctors, physical therapists, and treatments I undergo.  I also try to explain what I learn from myself and my body as I learn to manage these two diseases along the way.

When I switched over from Blogspot to my own domain, it took me a couple of days to come up with a new name for my site.  Some people tried to convince me to focus my writing only on EDS and POTS.  I refused and then refused some more.  I made it clear that if I was going to write, I was going to write about everything going on in my life; not just about my illnesses.  I am not EDS.  I am not POTS.  Sure I live with them, but I also live with family, friends, love, adventures, and the simple day-to-day challenges, struggles, and victories that everyone else experiences.  From the beginning, it was important to me, and healthy FOR me, to write about all of it.

To write about LIFE.

With that being said, there are some things I am adamant about keeping personal.  Like how I feel about politics.  Or my journey with exploring my faith.  Or one of those inevitable arguments I have with Brad or a family member.  This is not a place to air my dirty laundry.  I will save that stuff for conversations with the people involved.  At this point, I have also made a conscious decision to keep our “road” to starting a family personal and between us and our loved ones.  I know that at some point I will feel comfortable sharing, but for now it feels right to keep it private.

So with that, I am not sure if I truly answered the question…I think I may have gone random…But isn’t that what life is anyways?  Random happenings that mold into one beautiful life?

I guess that is what I want this site to be about.