Honesty

I need to come clean about something. I'm using pseudonyms in this blog. I'm purposefully leaving out details that will tell you my name, where I live, my occupation. I am protecting myself and protecting my husband. I want my blog to be completely open and honest, and in order to have that freedom, I cannot tell you my name.

I started blogging because I admire the honesty and openness I have found in the blogs I follow. I cherish knowing that I am reading about real people with real lives, who are not candy-coating their experiences. I trust them to tell me the truth.

When it really comes down to it, I guess I don't care whether I know their real names. I only want their writing to be authentic, to know that they are writing about reality, about their feelings, experiences, hopes and dreams. I am doing that, too.

Some of the things I will write about are deeply personal and will often be about people close to me, who want to maintain a certain level of privacy. I will not betray their trust in revealing who they are, but I know that their experiences are important to share because they are not the only ones. I derive great strength from shared experiences and shared stories. I turned to blogging to connect with a vibrant, supportive, and honest community.

I hope you will forgive our aliases and that you will continue to read my words believing that everything is true except our names. And I hope that you feel free to leave comments and feedback, with or without your real name. Thank you for reading.