First puzzle piece

You know, the other day I decided to check and see what blogging might really be like.  I've wanted to do this for quite a while but have always been hesitant because of privacy concerns.  If I blog, I want it to be something meaningful, but before I publish it, I'd want to make sure it IS meaningful and I'd want to know exactly who will see what I've written.

I also have been wondering for a while what exactly I'd blog about.  Would it be something personal or professional? On the personal level, what would I want to share?  It seems to me it is so easy to be misunderstood on the written page and I've had a terrible experience when I finally decided to write just an innocent remark about something meaningful to me.  It was not even addressed to someone in particular, just a comment to someone's post.  It was taken personally, the person was offended, presupposed malice and then spread the perception to family.  As a consequence, extended family is now experiencing a chasm that I'm not sure how to bridge.  

Because of that experience, I'm a little gun-shy about freely  expressing how I think about certain things because at heart I'm a kind, friendly, compassionate person and offending someone, whether family, friend, or stranger is the last thing on my  mind. 

I'm also  passionate about certain subjects like how thinking and feeling hang together and how we can gain control over what we think and feel, which will also impact how we act.

As I am writing this, I realize that I've moved into my professional life, I'm a counselor, but whether I'm working with clients or relating to my husband or friends, this subject is very, very important to me.
So, when someone shared with me about their blog and informed me that a blog can even be a personal diary where I'm the only person who will see what I've written, I finally decided to give it a try.  Even so, I found it not as easy as I had expected.  It seems like one has to question every question that's being asked.  Simply choosing not to share with anyone is not a one-time choice, it has to be reaffirmed over and over again; it feels like there are all these traps one could step into if not carefully examining step by step.

At the end of this window is a button that says "Share." Just above that button I have an area where I can add names, circles, or email addresses, there are more options like adding photos, videos, events, and links.  So what will happen if none of that applies because I use this blog as a personal diary for right now? And could I later change my mind and share these thoughts? I guess I'll just have to press that "Share" button to find out what happens next.