Value in Sharing

While I was typing up the "Why?" page, it got me thinking. Why make this blog public? If it's supposed to be for me, why not stick a password on the front and hope that none of my Squarespace brethren peak at the backend? 

Having an audience (or the potential for one) will change what I write. There will be things I still keep to myself, which defeats the purpose of this "brain dump". Or maybe not.

We live in a culture of over-sharing. A lot of people get angry about that, but it's an acceptable side effect of the amazing tools we have in our every day lives. We have devices in our pockets capable of communicating words, thoughts, pictures, and ideas to pretty much anyone, anywhere, at any time. Holy shit. Of course there's going to be a lot of unnecessary bullshit floating around. 

I took a look at the social media accounts I keep: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. They each have a different purpose in terms of what I share, but I do have one "golden rule". Whenever I link an article, post a thought, process a photo, I want to tip internet-noise in a positive direction. Maybe I'm over-analytical, but I think about every single thing I share and ask, "What will people take away from this?" before I submit. Not because I care what people think about me (sure I do, but that's not the point). I do it because the internet is full of boring complainers, negative thoughts, closed-mindedness. I don't want to add to that.

Mostly, I want people to learn something or laugh. Not that I'm a source of resounding knowledge or even all that funny, but I'd like to think I can at least comb through the internet and find some gems.

I'll keep this sucker public, and maybe someone will read it and share a feeling I have, or think about something in a way they haven't before, or maybe they'll just think it's a bunch of stupid bullshit. 

I don't know how to end this particular train of thought, so I might as well leave something interesting. The internet recently learned that there's too much poop on Mount Everest, but did you know there's also over 200 dead people literally chillin' up there?