Not too long, Maha, I’m so glad you managed to catch your thinking and questions after reading everyone’s posts – it’s not easy, takes some commitment to stay put while you draw all the threads together. So much reflection on so many posts makes a very dense (in a good way) post – very satisfying to read, and a prompt for more writing. I’m flattered you thought my post was worth mentioning – and there’s the tension between the self-centred part and the desire to be part of a dialogue. If we didn’t promote what we said, if we weren’t part of an online community, we would be keeping our thoughts to ourselves or possibly a few close people. And that kind of thinking either meets a dead end or goes around in circles (in your head). When it’s part of an ongoing discussion it branches out in all directions, like I’m watching my pine tree shoot out in 3 new directions on the one branch (it’s Spring in Australia).

And more about online openness –
We can be honest about what we say online but we are still selective. We’re not necessarily going to unburden the darkest depths of our soul!
Do we get to explore our thoughts more in writing? I think yes, because in conversations we are interrupted, especially in group conversations. Here we read the whole post, then think, then follow hyperlinks to others’ posts (as you’ve done here – great idea), and comment, then read the other comments, AND comment. Then probably get inspired to write another post.