I’m hiding from my Facebook friends and family.

At the risk of sounding obnoxiously self-important, I wanted a place to explore my thoughts freely and without the judgment and prying eyes of my Facebook friends and family.  I have three children;  they and my two sons-in-law are the only people who can associate this blog with me.  They are sworn to secrecy.  Actually, I think they’ve forgotten all about it.  I told them about it when it was originally set up for me months ago by my computer savvy son-in-law, and then I never touched it until last month.  My kids have  short attention spans and have most likely forgotten all about it by now.  I may remind them if I ever hit my stride on here.  In the meantime, it appears that I’m just talking to myself.  I have had several requests to leave comments, all from spammers.  Maybe someday if I’m really lucky, I’ll reel in a troll!  That might be fun.

Why am I hiding from everyone I know on Facebook?  Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy Facebook and it gives me the opportunity to keep in touch daily with my kids, and keep up with my grandkids, as well as several good friends, close relatives, and even a few high school classmates.  But to think that this group of overall nice people can have a mutually respectful conversation about anything of importance is to expect too much.  Politics and religion are off the table on my Facebook page.  I may learn the hard way, but I do eventually learn.  Discussing anything about my life in past years is dicey too.  I happen to have a couple of very gossipy people in my Facebook world; and more importantly, my mother.   Need I elaborate?

Somewhere along the line, the notion settled with me that Facebook is great for seeing photos of my kids and grandkids on a daily basis, finding a funny quote now and then, and having amazing recipes turn up in my news feed like magic.  Otherwise, things turn negative fast.  This blog was intended to be my response to that, my place to say whatever I feel like saying and not have to justify or defend whatever I’m feeling.  Here, I can’t inadvertently say anything to offend, upset, or alienate my loved ones, nor they me.  In theory, it’s a place where I can feel less suffocated and less superficial.  A toe in the water of my new life….