I’m at a crossroads. Do I tell D.P. about my journal being on-line for everyone and their brother/sister/dog to potentially read, or do I keep it to myself?
The reason I ask is this: the other day, after reading a hard-copy of the journal entries from our NJ NYC trip, D.P. asked why I call him D.P. in the ’story’. I actually had the guts to tell him that other people are reading it, and he asked who. Oh, dear, sweet baby jeebus. I told him my mom, dad, sister, brother(s), Beth, Sina – the whole gang. He commented how all of those people know who he is, and why didn’t I refer to him as [his real name]? I told him I didn’t know why I didn’t choose to use his real name. The truth is, I copied and pasted right from my journal on-line into a few seperate emails for friends and family, and into a Word document for D.P. to read at home – I didn’t have time to edit the copies.
This is a man who is VERY private, and I think it would devastate him to know that some of our dirty laundry is being aired in this fashion. This is what I do, though. This, my friends, is my release. I write about my everyday life, in the hopes that my writing skills will mature, and that these stories may touch someone, somehow.
So, while I am completely open and honest about what he and I have going on, I have chosen to use his initials to respect his privacy.
Would you tell? Should I use his real name in my blog?