Going Public

 

Yesterday I watched, via You Tube, a question and answer session with Donald Miller, an author whom I happen to admire, concerning a blog post he had made over a year ago. (By the way, that's a picture of me up there at the top of this post, not Donald.)

He was talking about his own thought process behind a statement he made regarding organized religion in America.

To me, the whole point of the conversation wasn't even about what he felt on the subject. Rather, it was the hailstorm of criticism he received from it. He said he wished, in hindsight, that he had thought it through a little more before going public, to include additional background on how he came up with the content of his post. To put the post in context, so to speak.

I am no Donald Miller. I'm not famous by any means; but, having written a book that's gotten about 30 ratings and 20 reviews, I could still identify with Miller's dilemma concerning what it means to go public - to put your thoughts out there for others, (who probably don't know you), to see.

It can be a humbling experience. Until the invention of blogging in all its forms, this area of life wasn't a concern. If ten people outside of your own family knew your opinion on something, that was saying a lot. Nowadays, that's just the tip of things. Potentially hundreds of folks could know what you're thinking if you choose to post your thoughts.

When you think about it, the whole business of writing is done privately for the most part. No one was with me when I wrote 20 Short Ones. It was a ton of fun, but it was a solitary activity. It also involved a lot of thought and decision-making, especially in regards to how much of my own life do I put down on the page?

After the editing process was completed and the book was published, I began to realize just how public this private work had become. The book had taken me across a very scary bridge - from private thought to public consumption of it. So far it's been very, very rewarding. But Donald Miller's experience has shown me, no matter how hard you try, there is always the potential for misinterpretation.

I commend him for handling the situation with grace. In the end, whether we share our thoughts publicly or not, isn't that what we all need?