Nothing is Secret

Nothing is Secret: Or, Why You Won't See Many Pictures of My Family Online

It's been some time, dear friends... Other than an obligatory "best of," it's been over a year since last we spoke! So I hope you'll forgive me if my prose is a bit rusty and, well, prosaic...

In the interim, a number of big doings:

(1) I graduated PA school. Proud owner of a shiny, new Master of Science in Physician Assistant Practice.

(2) I passed the Physician Assistant National Certification Exam (PANCE). Quite a relief. My scores didn't earn me any bragging rights, but frankly - I passed, and that's all that matters.

(3) Still searching for a place to call home, so to speak... I'm being considered for a few positions: one in the Chicago area and one in the Seattle area. Major pros and cons to each area, and to each position; the wife and I have some big decisions to make in the near-future.

(4) Biggest news of all... WE HAD A BABY. It's been a while, actually, but I've been so wrapped up in school and other issues that it didn't seem important to blog about it.


That actually brings me to the topic of this entry: privacy.

Obviously, this is a blog, so there's a certain lack of privacy that simply goes with the territory, but it's important to me to keep things kosher at home as well as online.

We hear all the time about how millennials and the younger generations are increasingly interconnected on the Web and yet personally disconnected from the flesh-and-blood creatures around them. My wife and I are deliberately trying to buck this trend.

That's not to say we don't have an online presence - such thinking is simply unrealistic this day and age, unless your Luddite fear and paranoia have sent you to the hills to live in a shack as a hermit. There are facebook accounts, twitter accounts, intagram, this very blog, etc etc ad nauseum. But if you know us at all, you'll see a few common traits among all those entities: the vast majority of entries reveal very little about our personal lives. You'll get opinions, thoughts, quips, (occasional) complaints, and comments, but very little about friends, family, and even each other. And I don't want to speak for her, but for me that's by design.

I love to write. I love to share my thoughts and opinions on myriad topics. But I don't kid myself: over the Internet is no way to know a person. So even if I were to go back to the glory days of this blog and post an entry every day, or even multiple entries a day, you'll get few details about my life. Or my wife's. Or - especially - our child's. All this (sometimes) to the chagrin of extended family, who sometimes (lovingly?) request, in none-too-subtle tones, that we post more pictures online so they can watch the child grow up. Sorry, but no thank you!

It's great to share photos with friends and family. But the idea of sharing photos with an entire online community - for potentially hundreds, thousands, or even millions to see - doesn't work for us.

We keep to ourselves. Except for when we don't. If you do see a baby picture online, enjoy it - they're few and far between. And that's because we'd rather live our lives and enjoy them in reality, not gather more "hits" or "views" (or whatever) online.

Thanks for respecting that. And, of course, for reading!