Welecome to the the privitized GFTS. Actually, I want to call it GFTS:Unleashed. I’ve only allowed in people whom I trust, so I can be completely honest.
Here’s what happened.
Soon after starting my new job, my boss told me that she tracked my blog. This was the third time that I’ve encountered that. At TFK, there was intense resistance to blogging. We went through a six month process to start a youth blog. I was lucky in that Carter, my boss, was a fellow blogger and respected the boundaries that I set up. I never blogged about work details or the policy issues surrounding tobacco. I’m used to this.
The new job was different. Any reference to work was suspect, which I understand. She likes my writing, but asked me to remove comments like, “today was hard. I’m super busy. etc.”
I was a bit miffed at that. I exercise my first amendment to the fullest extent. But whatever. Chattanooga is a small town, so I understand her concern.
Yesterday, I discovered that I upset a power couple in the Scenic City. I wrote a few posts on local politics last year. Apparently one post (which was tame for my writing) threw a bunch of people for a loop and upset my previous employeers. NO ONE CONTACTED ME. Although several people had my cell phone number, email address or the ability to comment, I didn’t hear a peep. I even came back and did some volunteer work for the people that were invovled. No one said a word. My boss only found out when she had lunch with one half of the power couple. She asked me to apologize and be more careful.
Last night, this really ticked me off. The more I thought about it, the more angry I got. I understand that Chattanooga is a small town, but this is a free society. When you enter the political world, all is fair. What I wrote was completely accurate. At the time that I wrote the post in question, I was completely anonymous on the web. I went public about two months after it was posted. How did people figure out who wrote it?
This morning, the pieces came together. I couldn’t understand how a group of people who are extremely unlikely to read my blog figured it out. It was also anonymous. How did that happen?
I have my suspicions, but they’re suspicions. To say antyhing would be spreading gossip. While what I wrote was honest and accurate, it was wrong of me to do it, and now my reputation will pay the price.
In the long run, I’m glad that this happened. My ego got too big when it comes to blogging. Because it’s the virtual world, I say things that I would never dare to say in person. EVER. My blog allows me to be the confrontational person that I’m not in real life.
It was also the impetus to change things up. As I said on my last post of the public GFTS, things had gotten stale. I’m excited about the future of adrienneroyer.com. That site will strictly cover nonprofit strategy and social media. Eventually, my dream is to open up my own shop. If I ever manage to get married and have kids, I’ll want a flexible job. My own business would allow me to call the shots. That’s something that I dream about every day.
Spirtually, I’ve been struggling with blogging. Mom and I are taking a Precept class on the Sermon on the Mount. This is the most convicting Bible study that I’ve ever encountered. Every week, it drives nails into my soul. Mom is having the same reaction. The first person to complete that week’s lesson usually warns the other about how convicting it is.
As I’ve studied the beattitudes, I’ve been strongly convicted that most of my posts were not gentle, meek or encouraged peacemaking. But how do you write about politics in a gentle manner? Politics, by its very nature is power-hungery, corrupting and vengeful. The last time that I checked those weren’t in Matthew 5.
I’m also more open to discussing faith here. That’s a difficult subject to write about in an open platform. I’m such a flawed person that I hate looking hypocrtical as my walk with Christ slowly grows. It’s just easier to be a secular person in the public sphere.
Thus, you have my reasons for going private. I’ve created one user name for the next week. Please log in and create your own wordpress ID. After next week, I’ll delete that user name.
