December 5, 1996
6:16 pm CST
risk and disclosure
But aren't you a little scared to be so personal with all the crazy people in the world?
Hayley asked me that question about my web site recently... and I've asked myself the same thing many times too, especially in the beginning.
It's a difficult thing.
Perhaps I'm being dangerously naive, but I'm not sure what anyone could do with the information I put up here... and I suppose I take some comfort in the distance granted by communication via the net. Beyond that, I suppose I believe in the basic goodness and good intentions of those who visit my site. I get a fair amount of interaction with you guys, and I haven't received anything that I could construe as negative or threatening. Perhaps I've just been lucky... ?
In the end, I just can't let that possibility muzzle my self-expression.
Besides, I think there's a strong streak of exhibitionism in me, and a complementary urge to seek connection with others... and neither can be satisfied without some risk.
Yet (believe it or not) I am in some ways an intensely private person... and I have my limits, too. Look around you here... I've put a lot of my self here... glimpses into who I am, how I live, what I do, what I care about. In some cases, I talk directly about these things, but more often the view is oblique, indirect. It's a balance I try to find within myself, between disclosure and secrecy, telling too much and saying too little... the border is pretty elastic, and it's a battle I've fought in my real life for as long as I can remember. I suppose it's fitting that echoes of that conflict find their way here...
So, take a look around, see for yourself... let me know what you think, how you feel... am I giving away too much? How much would you put in your own site?
Take care...
P.S.
Are you looking for more new stuff?
Have you seen the almost-complete, new and improved version of What Is Love yet? It's not quite done, but I've been adding a steady stream of your thoughts and artwork. Do you like the renovations? The old version is still around, too.
I've been making a lot of changes here lately... as always, you can read the whole story in Late Breaking News.
I've put my previous letter in the Shoebox, along with the others.
More old letters?
Grab another one
from the Shoe Box.
Copyright ©1996 Gerry Manacsa.
Send praise, thoughts, criticisms or whatever to: gerrym22@aol.com
12-17-96