I’m always surprised when people quote me to. . . me

Most times the only thing that lets me write without anxiety is the thought that no one’s reading this anyway.

Where this delusion defense mechanism falls short is foreseeing the eventuality that someone actually does  read what I’ve written. Because if I get caught up in that then while I’m writing I’ll be panicking about people’s reactions: “Oh no, what if they hate it? What if they love it? What if they hate me? What if I’m too mean? What if this changes the way people think about me?”  (This paranoia being different from the regular: “Am I being too diplomatic? Am I being to biased? What if someone interprets this the wrong way?” that goes on no matter what I’m writing).

Having people (in real life! Gasp!) comment on/about the things I write is like having someone tacklehug you while wearing a butterfly fairy princess costume. Scary as hell, but surprisingly sweet.

How do you feel about people talking about your blog offline?