I went two for two on beta readers telling me that the post drafted for today was confrontational. I didn’t see it that way, but that’s why one has beta readers. Since I couldn’t see the effect, I couldn’t change it nor accurately weigh the merits of letting it stand. This is unusual for me. Le mot juste is the closest thing I have to a superpower. So then I tried to figure out exactly what I wanted to say and why I wanted to say it. So then I ran out of energy. Here, have an evergreen.
~~~
Long ago in the deeps of time.
Party at a friend’s house. Chatting with a fellow I did not know. Host walks over. Says, “Oh, I see the two horse people have found each other.” Walks off.
We exchange looks and nods along the lines of ‘You? Yes. You? Yes.’
He was a large fellow, both tall and heavyset. His physique did not scream At Home In The Saddle. I figured he’d been on a horse once or twice. That counted as a horse person to muggles.
Him: What kind of riding do you do?
Me: Have you ever heard of three-day eventing?
Him: I’m a graduate-A Pony Clubber.
Game. Set. Match.
Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott
Virtual Brush Box 
Can we also have the confrontational post? You could stick a warning on the top…
👍
A warning label would not save my sorry ass. I said that decisions were being made that I disagreed with. This was seen as judgmental. Go figure. What if I let it stand? Was it worth the predicted fall-out? What if I took it down? Was that self-censorship? I wasn’t speaking out against injustice. I was simply bleating my unasked for opinion. On the other hand, what is a blog if not one long unsolicited opinion? That’s the point where I got dizzy & sat down.
Interesting – aren’t we allowed to disagree?
I’m with you. I thought the post was mostly harmless. I was simply saying that I felt X about Y. However, both beta readers know the people involved. I have to give weight to their opinion and decide if I really, really want to go there. Is there a point? Will it achieve anything? Am I just soothing my own ego by blowing off steam? Am I hurting people? Dizzy again. Gonna go sit down.
I was thinking about this and I think it’s okay to disagree but OTH, maybe it doesn’t need to be put out there for all to see if it could be misconstrued or potentially hurtful. It’s one thing to do it person to person but another thing to air it publicly. Life is hard.
Truth. To me, what I say and what I write come from the same place within, but I can see how they could end up having totally different impacts out in the world.
For me to keep in mind. Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
For all of us to keep in mind!