Somewhere along the way, I lost my TMI

2011-12-13T00:12:52Z

I realized something last week while chatting over in the #dreamwidth-bitch IRC channel. When it comes to things people share with me, I don't really have an overshare zone. I mean, I watch what I say & try not to expose people to stuff they don't want to find out about. But incoming? I can't remember the last time someone tripped my TMI-meter. I may have had one at some point but I think I lost it somewhere along the way.

Maybe this has something to do with having been on the internetz for 15 years or so and being exposed to the kind of frank honesty that a lot of folks evince online. Even back before the days of blogs, I remember some people displaying a combination of self-knowledge and frank honesty that I really envied. ISTR reading one person's homepage, whence they described their typical day; it began with something along the lines of "Wake up, have a wank, get out of bed, ..." and I did a double-take, not because I found the disclosure that they were having a wank shocking or upsetting -- I didn't in the least -- but that they were forthright & open enough to put that fact online in public for all to read.

People have sex, periods, gross bodily functions, sordid histories, inappropriate fantasies about the people in their lives, and embarrassing moments at the supermarket. That's life! In all of its bodily and erotic and sometimes unflattering and imperfect glory. While the specifics are going to vary, these kinds of things happen to all of us in some way, shape, or form. So while I respect that not everybody wants to hear every last glorious detail of my sinus cold or ice-cream induced digestive difficulties, if there's something you want to get out in the open, don't feel compelled to hold back on my account. I'm only human, and I'm willing to bet you're only human too.

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shadowspar

Somewhere along the way, I lost my TMI