It's not such a long story.

I have a really personal story to tell. It's not a ploy for sympathy. In fact I couldn't feel less bad about it. It's also not an effort to unburden my soul by getting this story I've been keeping to myself out there. I've told the story to a lot of people, to (almost) everyone who's asked. It's also not like this story defines me in some way. In all honesty, as big as it might seem, it was barely a blip in the grand scheme of my life. It happened a long time ago and was, ultimately, a good thing. Though, at the time, it seemed really bad.

So, here it is:

At the beginning of my senior year in high school I had a pregnancy scare. A little bit more than a scare actually. I had a miscarriage and spent an awful night in the emergency room.

So, why am I telling this story in such a ridiculously public way? If not for sympathy or to get it off my chest, then why? Am I just a verbal exhibitionist? Not exactly.

I just don't see the harm in revealing this story or anything else. I suppose this is the deepest, darkest skeleton in my closet and I can't imagine what bad could possibly come from people knowing about it. Am I going to lose friends? Or lose my job? Or get sick? Or die, if people know this embarrassing secret about me? I doubt it.

The real reason I'm telling the story though is that I think being an open person is a good thing. I think being open is one of my best qualities. When I start censoring myself I feel...off. Most of the time, when someone asks me something, I answer (I don't see any reason not to), but not always, and lately I've noticed that I have a tendency to leave things unsaid unless someone asks. Being a truly open person is more than just responding to whatever you're presented with, it's taking a leap of faith, putting yourself out there. So, I'm taking the skeleton out of the closet and putting it here for everyone to see mostly just to prove to myself that I can take that leap of faith.