TRUTH

"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, an obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. The hospitality was as cold as the ices."
Henry David Thoreau, Walden, or Life in the Woods

CONFESSIONAL

From: http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/ang0359l.jpg

I confess, I've never been to confessional. I'm not Catholic. But I do find something intensely satisfying about disclosing some of my most personal, most shameful secrets. Perhaps it is a burden lifted when I no longer have to bear the sole responsibility of knowing something no one else knows. Or perhaps it is desire to spread out the guilt and shame over a larger surface. Like snow shoes. I want to distribute my own weight, the burden I cause the world by exacerbating the inequities and injustices. I want to purge these secrets, so I can walk on the surface of the snow, instead of dragging through it. From: http://www.laynekennedy.com/snowshoes.jpg

Or perhaps the urge to confess is an invitation for others to confess, to feed on sharing intimate knowledge with each other. Some may call this gossip. But I think it's deeper than that. I think it's a need to know someone is listening, and trusts enough to reciprocate the disclosure. I think it is an expression of hope that someone else knows precisely what you are feeling, that you are not entirely alone in this world. Sharing a secret is then an extension of trust, in hopes that you will be understood, that your experience may remind the person you confess to of something in their own life, and in this shared story, each is reminded of the communal nature of human existence. That we are not alone.

In 2004, PostSecret.com was created. It is a blog for people to submit anonymously any postcard-sized secret. (visit: http://postsecret.blogspot.com). This is one example from the "Sunday Secrets":

Why do you think some people have such a need to tell their secrets that they would submit something so personal, sometimes incriminating, to someone they've never met? Do you ever feel the urge to confess your secrets? What drives this urge? Do you think personal writing should thrive on the nature of disclosure? Why or why not? Do you think the core of your identity is hidden because of information you keep to yourself?

FACEBOOK

From: http://davidakin.blogware.com/logo_facebook-rgb-7inch.jpg

Are we obsessed with ourselves? Of course it is thrilling to see yourself on the Internet, to catch up on all the latest gossip among your friends, and to track the number of tagged photos you have. I too am an offender of this self-obsession, by creating this blog to document all of my thoughts and ramblings for the entire world wide web to view. But I don't see this instinctive urge to express one's self as something to be ashamed of or to suppress.

I think Facebook is the product of a realization that people, specifically young people, have an inherent desire to articulate their identity in a shared setting. Facebook reassures us that our presence is significant in the world, that we occupy some amount of space, however minute, on the Internet, and we can see ourselves in the profiles of others. Facebook reminds us that we have friends, and that we can accumulate more friends, just by the click of a button from the comfort of our own room.

If you have a Facebook account, what is the most important aspect of your profile to you? What feature of Facebook do you use most? How often do you visit your Facebook account? Do you think that your Facebook profile provides an honest and comprehensive depiction of who you are as an individual? If not, what is missing? Do you create an idealized version of yourself? Why or why not?

If you don't have a Facebook account, why not? Have you ever had one, or something similar, like a myspace, xanga, or blog? Is this sort of technology appealing or addicting to you, or does it disgust you? Do you ever feel like you miss out on anything because you're not on Facebook?

How do you think the type of writing you can do on Facebook relates to writing you do for your classes?