Narcissism On Parade

"As younger people reveal their private lives on the Internet, the older generation looks on with alarm and misapprehension not seen since the early days of rock and roll. The future belongs to the uninhibited." -- New York Magazine feature titled Kids, the Internet, and the End of Privacy: The Greatest Generation Gap Since Rock and Roll.

This article resonated with me as an American female writer in her 30s (maybe even a "Yippie" or a "Grup," a new, bizarre but right-on nickname that has emerged as my generation continues to evolve both on- and off-line), a mother and an extremely revealing, confessional style blogger/vlogger.

(I stumbled across the article in the middle of the night on another female blogger's site. I feel terrible that I can't remember he name or URL, otherwise I'd link to her now.)

Also from the article for your contemplation: "What happens when a person who has archived her teens grows up? Will she regret her earlier decisions, or will she love the sturdy bridge she’s built to her younger self—not to mention the access to the past lives of friends, enemies, romantic partners? On a more pragmatic level, what does this do when you apply for a job or meet the person you’re going to marry? Will employers simply accept that everyone has a few videos of themselves trying to read the Bible while stoned? Will your kids watch those stoner Bible videos when they’re 16? Is there a point in the aging process when a person will want to pull back that curtain—or will the MySpace crowd maintain these flexible, cheerfully thick-skinned personae all the way into the nursing home?"

I'm deeply considering the ramifications (concentric circle effects?) of being so open and free with the intimate details of my life and, more importantly my children's lives, as I prepare to hunker down tonight, to barricade myself behind my open laptop at a darkened, cave-like downtown hookah bar and cafe, to put the finishing touches on the first three chapters of my first memoir. Now that I'm vlogging the kids and our misadventures on the town, there's so much more to consider than before.

How much should I reveal? Who could potentially get hurt or offended in the process?

Why should I hold back? No one else does any more.

That about covers what I'm thinking about today, other than waking up my two young-ins so we can speed downtown to pick up their big bro from kindergarten. Next we'll bump around the bluff by the shore, climb a snaggle of massive tree roots and head back home to kick off our weekend of "Where the heck is Mommy?"

I'll be off and away until I produce a decent beginning to my book. But how much will I reveal this time? How much would you reveal? (And did this lame excuse for a posting make any sense any way?)