Morning everyone. Here’s another edition of  “Sunday Morning Coffee Chat.” Today’s topic is on privacy. I’ve noticed that people have a big issue with privacy, whether it’s feeling that they’re too private and don’t share enough or that they don’t keep anything private in their lives, or that others make them feel bad about being too private and not opening up, etc. This is how I feel about that. Being private is never a bad thing. What I think lands in a gray area sometimes is the difference between being private or not being private enough VERSUS people getting frustrated with the people they love and care about because they “SHUT DOWN”  and never really open up and share important issues in their lives. That’s not the focus of today’s article but I know I will discuss more about “shutting down” and the “Gray area” in the future., (maybe next post.)

Today I wanted to talk about privacy in the sense of how people can sometimes expect and pressure you to tell your whole life story a few seconds after you first meet them. I really hate when people overstep their boundaries and try to insert themselves in other people’s business or situations that they don’t know anything about. That probably annoys me the most. 

I consider myself a somewhat private person. Yes I’m on social media and I have a few sites including a youtube channel, but the main reason I have all that is to promote myself and my work. I don’t use every social media service either. I only have Instagram, which is what I use the most, Facebook, and twitter which I don’t use as much anymore, With that said, I never really post photos of my family except for my husband but even with him, I pick and choose which pictures to post so he is comfortable, especially since he doesn’t use social media as much as I do. Even though I’m private and very selective about posting things about my family, I don’t clock my friends or anyone who are proud and want to show pictures of their loved ones.  It’s everyone’s own personal choice. For me personally, especially since we live in an era of social media, I enjoy having some mystery in my life.

Now when it comes to meeting a new person and wanting to get to know them better, or even if you know the person already, you can’t force them to open up to you if they don’t want to. If you keep pressuring them, it usually makes them retreat and do the opposite, at least that’s what happens with me. If someone is teasing or bothering me to talk, I usually end up keeping my mouth shut and ignoring their request. You shouldn’t ever feel bad or weird if you don’t want to share certain things with others. You keep whatever you want in your life private and don’t ever feel guilty about that.

I have a HUGE PROBLEM with people overstepping their bounds. I’ve had that happen to me which I talked about in my last Sunday/Wednesday Coffee Chat post which was called, “Don’t Involve Yourself in My Family.” I don’t appreciate when people try to “Catch Me” in something to make themselves look better and/or to prove me wrong. When people have tried to confront me about something specific they think I may have said or done, not being open with them, or being overly private, I just think to myself as well as saying out loud, “Yeah and what’s your point?” or “It’s None of Your Business.” I get really upset and pissed off when people interfere in other people’s lives when it’s not out of concern. If you’re truly concerned about someone because of a situation that is unhealthy or possibly dangerous, that’s completely different. I have an issue when people interfere just to create drama, especially when it involves me and especially when it’s someone who I thought I could trust and count on to support me and to not interfere where they don’t belong.

To finish this off, my advice to anyone who deals with people getting overly involved in their private life, is to not post things online that you don’t want to have to explain, tell people to mind their own business if you know their intentions aren’t pure, and to always have confidence in yourself and to trust your instincts, especially when deciding what to keep private in your life. And I will say this one more time. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel guilty for keeping some things private in your life. It’s your prerogative.

   Thank you for spending another Sunday morning having a quick discussion with me. I appreciate you all and see you very soon. Happy Sunday!