Coming Out

What?

Whenever we hear that term, we usually think of someone breaking the news that they have an interest in members of the same sex. It is a dreaded concept.

That isn't what it means to me right now.

I feel like I am coming out...of a cave. Don't misunderstand what I am saying. Not darkness like in a depression or fog like confusion. A cave, like where you hear echoes and you aren't quite sure where the origin is, but once you hit the main vein, you can find your way out.

I love the life I live, but I don't always love the way I live it. I realize that I am my harshest critic and that to my detriment more times than not. So, being that critical has driven me away from some of my faith's most basic tenets: loving your neighbor as yourself, doing unto others as you would they do unto you, having no god before God.

As I have worked on my LinkedIn, University of Michigan Alumni and Facebook networks and have started my blog, I am rediscovering life. Finding people who have been part of my life means a lot, and, as I look at their pages, I realize that the 'worlds' of my life, school, church, former church, family, profession are not so disparate. I am not separate people. I am not living separate lives.

I am coming out of a personal privacy and into the greater society once again.

Some of my contacts I will maintain and others will have to cease.

What a stretch!