Thinking, thinking

First, thank you to everybody for all of your wonderful comments on the living room and kitchen paint color!  We're both very happy with how it turned out and I'm eager to put the finishing touches.


As I mentioned, I've been in a bit of a funk lately which I fall prey to now and then.  Perhaps it's my way of becoming a hermit for a while, or taking a time-out.  It's my brain's way of saying....'that's enough for now Kavita'.  :)  But generally in my funks, I tend to stay in a deep thought mode.  Recently I've been thinking about blog safety and how much to share via the blogosphere.  Do you all ever think about that?  How does it effect how much you share?  I mean essentially blogging is an avenue to journal our thoughts, however instead of the journey being under strict lock and key, it's free for the whole world to see.  (ps - I just rhymed).  And not only do we journal, but we share pictures of our homes, our loved ones, our journeys...our lives through our perspective.  Does that ever scare any of you?  Do you ever find yourself pulling back from a post?

I did a search online about blog safety and there are actually a lot of websites talking about this very subject and some of the articles date back to 2005.  It's very interesting to see this phenomena develop over the years.  In fact a lot of websites suggest and encourage bloggers to stay 100% anonymous - create a pseudo name, never tie your blog to your real name or real information, limit pictures, insert a robot text file so you can't be found through a search engine, etc, etc.  The list of recommendations goes on and on.  It doesn't quite leave you feeling reassured that safety is easy to obtain whilst blogging.

When I started this blog, my goal was to keep it anonymous but it was impossible.  I felt that to be too limiting and I couldn't really blog the way I wanted to.  Plus, a big reason I started this blog was to keep in better communication with my family overseas.  I found that hard to do without uploading pictures, or the ability to talk about the going on's in my life! What started as a communication tool did end up being so much more than that.  I've been able to get to know other people from here and afar, and even had the chance to meet two of my blogger friends - Helena and Jan.  It's been overall a positive experience so far!  But I have to admit that over the years as I've blogged away, I have at times considered turning this in to a private blog and most recently my experiences with my 'stalker' have definitely made me think more about it.  Would it be safer?  Should I be protecting my identity more so than I am doing right now?  Do I want everybody knowing about our living room paint color and our embarassingly large TV?  Questions, questions, questions and no real answers just yet. 

But then I ask myself the question...what is the worst that could happen?  I mean really...what is the worst case scenario?  My blog generally stays on very safe topic areas.  I don't write about my work, or fights with my husband :), or politics, or religion.  I play it safe.  So what do I have to worry about?  Right?  Right??  :)

I think I'm talking in circles.  That's apparently what happens when you're in a funk.  But I guess that I'm just thinking out loud and I feel that this isn't the first time I've written about this on my blog.  I guess it's a topic that lingers in my head and at times pops to the fore front to say hello and inspire me to think more about it.  Hmmm.  Thinking, thinking...

Got any thoughts about this particular subject?  Wanna share?
~k