Charles Socci Dot Com

There are a few cardinal rules of blog writing, mostly common sense, but good rules to follow none the less. Essentially these rules come down to one simple principal: Do not reveal anything about yourself that you wouldn’t speak aloud to any other living soul - that’s what therapists and sometimes best friends are for.

This simple rule rather limits the scope of a personal blog - at least one where the author prefers to post as himself and wishes to protect his integrity and livelihood and the integrity, livelihood and feelings of those whose lives surround him.

Dooce is a good case in point. Her candor and wit are something I greatly admire. Her earliest forays into the blogosphere resulted in the loss of her job. Ultimately her blog now draws a readership so large she supports her family from it.

It would seem that Dooce can do what I can not. That is write with abandon about nearly everything that crosses her mind without bringing hurt or shame to herself or those who love her. Then again if the most unseemly things she can post about are pre-marital sex and a post-partum depression requiring hospitalization; perhaps she isn’t the best case in point. And even she admits that certain family members simply choose not to read her blog at all.

So then how does one write about the ugly things in life; the scandalous; the unspeakable? One simply doesn’t. Or; perhaps one bares all and just lets the chips fall where they may. I can’t answer.

My life is complicated. It is filled with a mixture of success and failure; pride and shame; triumph and failure. There are people I love but struggle to understand. There are situations that defy logic. There is insanity and peace. Manic highs and crushing lows.

Is there dignity in not ‘airing one’s dirty laundry’? Or is the true dignity in telling all?

Maybe there is a ‘happy medium’ between feel good stories, fiction and exposing the deepest and darkest places of existence. Like Dooce we can thumb our nose at the family religion and talk frankly about some of the darker parts life. We can push some of the boundaries just a little bit without going all the way.

(me at Windows on the World, top floor North Tower, World Trade Center, New York City January 2001)