In response to my poem about blogging, a friend commented the following:

There is plenty of each person that can be shared. Transparancy is attractive to seekers. If more unvarnished truth were shared, about the lives of believers, then we as Christians might seem more approachable. More people might be attracted to the faith by knowing they don’t have to be perfect first…

I think he made a good point.

I guess we all have different levels of comfort with sharing what is personal and private. And about how much to share, with whom, for what purpose, and in what context.

Before I wrote my poem, I had been reading the blog of someone who seemed like she valued herself very little, and the degree of intimate self disclosure was more than I had seen in a long time. Everything was laid bare, and it seemed as though she was spilling out into the universe and losing herself in the process. She was cut and bleeding out loud, bleeding her life into cyberspace. Was she looking for acceptance, looking for something to clothe her with dignity and say she was real and of infinite value?

I felt for her exposure in the same way you want to protect those who are vulnerable from hurting themselves.
Why risk hurting oneself? What kind of need drives oneself to shed all and be so exposed to everything out there, both good and bad?
As it happens I did once know that need… the desperation of wanting to be seen wholly and totally; the desperation of wanting to be loved for all that you are, every tiny cell of you with nothing hidden, nothing rejected, all profoundly and intimately loved; as the songs of Bilitis, to know and be known.
Oh how much we risk ourselves sometimes in order to be loved.

I now know that nothing we do is hidden from God, and that we have witnesses among the heavenly hosts. But surely this is exposure to those who would have our best interests at heart? We stand in the light, not in the dark where evil lurks. We ask for protection from evil.

Yes, there are good reasons to let others see you are real. And there are good reasons to take care of yourself, affording yourself respect and dignity. I believe we can show ourselves to be real, and still keep our dignity…

…that what you blog is testament quite worthy of defence and fair account, or suited sentiment of self well-clothed while rendered bare.