I was scrolling through my Facebook feed ( who uses Facebook these days? Well I do because I am not on Instagram or any other social media. lol.) and I came across a post whose gist was about privacy being an integral part of someone’s character. In other words, they thrive in being private about themselves and that they have more peace and comfort with disclosing as less details of their lives as possible. Not just the details but also who they are as an individual. Their likes and dislikes, their opinions and perspective towards their life and the ground they are standing on these days. This privacy is essential for them. It empowers them.
This made me realise, I haven’t been much private about my life these days, which has led me into an acute discomfort. I like the privacy of my thoughts, to know that what i am thinking only stays with me and I don’t have to share it with someone else. But recently, I have been vastly vocal about my feelings and frame of mind. It does not feel comfortable, because not everyone needs to know everything. This shouldn’t be confused with my reluctance to share my problem with the best of my friends, but for the rest of the public, I don’t want to be so public anymore. I do want to get my articulation right, especially when i am expressing myself to my friends, but somehow i have found solace in silence. I would rather listen to people, observe them, get to know them, make them feel accepted rather than dumping all my thoughts on to people who wouldn’t remember them the next day.
I like privacy and i feel people have been given a big window to look into what has been going on. Now they know a little bit too much for my taste. It has to stop. Setting up healthy boundaries for self and others is an important step towards self-care. One thing to do is accept and acknowledge the fact that maintaining privacy is required to involve minimal source of stress in your life because the less private you are, the more people will comment on it. It can be a negative or a positive comment which can engender an equal or opposite reaction on your side.
This doesn’t mean that you should live as a ghost all your life. Even an introvert needs to go out once in a while to engage in social interactions.
The real challenge here is to maintain a private social life. Any suggestions on how to go about doing it? Let us know in the comment section.
Rea1405 