Chrisonomicon

Wednesday, May 15, 2002

When I sit down to write, I often ask myself what I'd like to read if I were browsing through my archives five or ten years down the road. Invariably, the most interesting journal entries I've read from my past are either personal reflections or gossip about the people in my life at the moment, neither of which speak volumes of my taste in reading topics but certainly attest to the baser predilictions of human nature: self-love and scandal.

Specifics are always preferred. For instance, I'd rather read something along the lines of, "Today, I came out to my coworker, Steve, at lunch and he took it rather well in spite of blowing milk out of his nose," instead of, "Work is good." I've done enough journaling to know that simply saying, "Work is good," will mean absolutely nothing to me ten years down the road, let alone have any particle of entertainment value.

Gossip is always more interesting when it involves nasty rumors or sordid detailings of disreputing engagements. My favor goes to the "I had my first threesome" entry, rather than the one that starts out, "I had my first traffic ticket today." These accounts have a large downside when made publically available, however, as everyone who knows you will ultimately read them. People have a way of finding gossip. Dirty gossip has a way of finding people.

Journaling on a publically available site such as this is restrictive since specifics and gossip are kept to a minimum to maintain both privacy and pride. In a way, I wonder if this self-censorship has a similar effect on the quality of my writing here that restrictions on early 1950's television programming had on the content of shows such as "I Love Lucy." Taboo subjects were addressed via more creative avenues when they were not allowed to be talked about up front, making for some hilariously entertaining situations.

I suppose that if disclosure is the ultimate goal and recording events true to life is the ideal, I should throw pride and privacy to the wind. I'd be free to detail some of the more interesting events and thoughts taking place in my life right now. Not that my life is a fountainhead of drama or I'm continually having to censor myself, but it would be nice to know that, had I been engaging in threeways, I'd be free to talk about it here. You know.