The New Intimacy

Do you keep certain parts of yourself secret?

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Contributor: DustBunny DustBunny
Quote:
Originally posted by cheesewizz
wow, im sorry you have to live with that level of ignorance on a daily basis. do you live in a small town or something? maybe you should consider moving to a big city where people are more diverse.
Oddly enough I live in Charlotte, NC. But there are still many many people who know very little of the Jewish faith that as soon as someone mentions they are, they get bombarded with questions. I am admittedly a little south of the city and close enough that many people are from South Carolina. I think the issue is many people don't learn about other faiths when younger. So as adults they have a lot of questions or misconceptions. At first I was okay clearing things up, but now it's become silly since many want to press on as to why I'm Jewish and don't believe in Christ. Ah well, you can teach some, but I think we often learn more when we educate ourselves.
04/17/2012
Contributor: JennSenn JennSenn
I hide stuff. Really, I just become more open the more I know someone and if I know someone has different views than me on something (like politics) I'll usually steer clear of those topics to avoid conflict. Just not worth it. I'm Jewish, and while I don't go around introducing myself as such I don't keep it a secret. I haven't got as many of those probing questions as DustBunny, but people comment on my jewelry (I have a necklace with a hamsa and one with a tree of life). I'm not very good about explaining things though so I do wish they'd just look online.
04/17/2012
Contributor: Lilith Bealove Lilith Bealove
Depends on who I'm talking to. I do hide some of my past from people, and I don't think that some parents would like it if I thought their brat... I mean child looks like a milk carton model. I love kids, but brats are a whole other sub species of children.
04/17/2012
Contributor: MissCandyland MissCandyland
Sometimes I keep my religious and political views to myself. My mom always taught me to stay away from religion, politics, and money when talking to people to ensure a pleasant conversation.
04/17/2012
Contributor: Annemarie Annemarie
I keep my sexual orientation to myself in regards to my father... I'm pansexual, and not only do I not want to explain what that means, but, my father is quite conservative and may or may not hate me that I like (and have had sex with) women. I don't want to take the chance of losing him as well--my mother kicked me out and abandoned me when I was a young teenager.

Otherwise, mostly open book.
04/17/2012
Contributor: MistressDandelion MistressDandelion
I do hide a lot.... my religious views (non-christian), political views(not conventionnal), sexual orientation (and identity), occupation (being a mortician is not very well seen by some people, also, some days, I don't feel like having to answer the usual questions: "what is your motivation? why are you doing that? do you like dead people?"), past (mh not very shiny, not because I misbehaved but I lived thru some atrocilous things).
04/17/2012
Contributor: CindyH CindyH
i do keep some secrets
04/17/2012
Contributor: Missmarc Missmarc
Quote:
Originally posted by Mwar
I view myself as a very open person, however there are certain parts of myself I keep from others. For example, I hide my religious beliefs from my mother because iI know it will upset her and cause disruption in part of my family.

Do any of ... more
I hide many things depend on who it is.
04/17/2012
Contributor: Mwar Mwar
Quote:
Originally posted by MistressDandelion
I do hide a lot.... my religious views (non-christian), political views(not conventionnal), sexual orientation (and identity), occupation (being a mortician is not very well seen by some people, also, some days, I don't feel like having to answer ... more
Oooo... I find that occupation interesting. Would you mind sharing about some off the oddest things you've seen? No pressure if you don't want to. I was on a morgue tour and we saw a guy who crashed a truck, had it flip on him, AND explode. Bad luck.

I'm hitting med school next year, so I'm a bit of a nerd on this stuff, sorry if I seem forward
04/17/2012
Contributor: WetJenn WetJenn
Quote:
Originally posted by Mwar
I view myself as a very open person, however there are certain parts of myself I keep from others. For example, I hide my religious beliefs from my mother because iI know it will upset her and cause disruption in part of my family.

Do any of ... more
I don't advertise but am open when asked about different things
04/17/2012
Contributor: Tangles Tangles
The majority hide their past and religious views. Not surprising.
04/17/2012
Contributor: Ms. N Ms. N
Absolutely. I live in a very conservative area, so it makes life easier to keep my business my own.
04/17/2012
Contributor: x203 x203
Im open about most stuff but not everything.
04/17/2012
Contributor: gsfanatic gsfanatic
I tend not to hide things per se, but I won't always bring them up. For example, I run more to the liberal side of things, and when I was working in the south, I tended not to start discussions about politics or religion. Sex stuff I'd share as private advice, but I don't see a reason to make it a public affair.
04/18/2012
Contributor: Undead Undead
sometimes yes
04/18/2012
Contributor: nanamondoute nanamondoute
I usually hide what I have done sexually or my fantasies from the people around me. I just never felt like it was something I really needed to share.
04/18/2012
Contributor: starryeyedangel starryeyedangel
I tend to be very open with those that I am close to, but I will not talk about my religous beliefs with people, including those I am close to if I think it may offend them.
04/18/2012
Contributor: Apirka Apirka
I hide certain things from certain people. Especially my mother. We are not close at all and she doesn't need to know my likes/dislikes in regards to anything (because she always gets them wrong, anyway), or my hobbies or what I do online or anything regarding sex.
04/19/2012
Contributor: married with children married with children
I am pretty open about everything. I do keep sexual stuff between my wife and I.
04/19/2012
Contributor: richsam richsam
Quote:
Originally posted by Mwar
I view myself as a very open person, however there are certain parts of myself I keep from others. For example, I hide my religious beliefs from my mother because iI know it will upset her and cause disruption in part of my family.

Do any of ... more
Past
04/19/2012
Contributor: Errant Venture Errant Venture
It's not so much that I keep things secret, it's more a case of keeping certain thoughts to myself while around certain people. A secret is to exclude all others from a fact or point of self.
04/20/2012
Contributor: dv8 dv8
Awww, who dislikes cute animals?
05/19/2012
Contributor: DustBunny DustBunny
Quote:
Originally posted by dv8
Awww, who dislikes cute animals?
It may seem mean, but I don't find some breeds of dog cute. The little shivery ones, while some women adore them, I'd take a larger breed over a little one. This isn't to say they are ugly, just not my thing.
05/19/2012
Contributor: Azule Azule
I keep most of these private just for the sake of not beginning a particular argument with other people but I will on occasion bring something on the list up if I want to begin an interesting discussion.
05/19/2012
Contributor: SimpleTeaser SimpleTeaser
While I am open about most things, I still keep certain parts of my life, and myself a secret.
05/19/2012
Contributor: Allison.Wilder Allison.Wilder
Apparently I hide everything according to this poll. My closest friends know everything and my family knows everything but occupation. The rest of the world? They're on a need-to-know basis and they don't need to know!
05/19/2012
Contributor: Princess-Kayla ♥ Princess-Kayla ♥
I definitely hide my religious views from a lot of people. My brother and husband are the only ones who know about that.
05/19/2012
Contributor: Woman China Woman China
For some reason people give me the dumbest looks, then the "pity parade looks" when they learn anything about my past or what I have gone through and am going through.

So I learnt to not talk about them, emotions or personal things of the like.

Now, when I do actually make it known that something bad happened to me, I don't get the pity parade looks, I get the awe looks that I can still smile.
05/19/2012