Most of us have had to stand in front of a room full of people and introduce ourselves at some point in our lives. Most of us hated it. Remember grade school teachers who loved to kick off the school year with hands clasped together and wide smiles, “Let’s go around the room and say our names and something about ourselves”? At 50-something years old, I can almost guarantee that those smiles were forced; a mix of dread and hope. I can imagine Ms. Griffin (my own grade school teacher) thinking, “Please God, just this once, give me twenty kids who shut up when I clap my hands together, who don’t throw up after the cafeteria serves tuna fish sandwiches, who don’t tell me about their mom and dad “wrestling!” And, Lord, I am begging you this time, please don’t let any of them have lice today–at least not the ones closest to my desk!” Yeah, those were the days. All we had to do was stand up, keep our eyes down, give our name and a quick response. “My name is Lee and I am seven.” Done. Naked truth: I don’t remember a single thing any of the kids in grade school told us about themselves. Can I just do that here? Technically, this is my blog so I should be able to do what I want but how inclined would you be to read on if I ended my first post on my virgin blog with “My name is Lee. I’m fifty-something.”? Yeah, you’d close the tab faster than a swipe right.
My name is Lee. I am fifty-something.I am a daughter, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. I am an entrepreneur and a part-time writer. Why yes, you may have read something I’ve written; It’s this new blog called “Not So Quiet Lee…” Insert side eye emoji, Siri. In all seriousness, I am sarcastic to a fault; I’ve been told that I have a good sense of humor–or at least that is what I think people mean when they tell when they say, “You’re funny.” I am an empath, a nurturer and a fixer. I love people and animals. This isn’t Facebook or Instagram so you are also going to get the nitty-gritty: I have a beautiful daughter who is in her 30’s, who is Mama to a beautiful little girl, with whom I am completely head over heels about. I also have another daughter in her 30’s who is estranged. The estrangement began over a year ago. When she erased me from her life, she removed me from the life of her two sons, as well. She proceeded to file an order of no contact. Thinking it would be short-lived and that time would heal her anger, I agreed. For over one year I have had zero contact with her or my grandsons, who were a daily part of my life. Most of the time, I am angry, depressed and heart-broken but I have learned to hide it well in my everyday life because I don’t want to be an emotional burden to my family and I never want my other daughter or my granddaughter to feel as though they aren’t enough for me.
I have used the phrase “Naked Truth,” with friends over the years to let them know I am about to say something soul-bearing, brutally honest and potentially difficult to admit or to make them aware of my expectations when they are telling me something– usually in response to a question I’ve asked.
Depending on what the topic is, the Naked Truth is not always easy to hear; it is often not comfortable and often requires time to “marinate.” I am suggesting that, when you read any of my posts and experience any sort of feelings, that you let the post ruminate before you do anything with the post itself or what you’ve read.
In today’s world, where we have a President using AI Memes of feces being dumped on anyone who challenges him, I think we all need a lesson in how to have a productive dialogue. If you read my posts and want to respond, you are opening up a dialogue. The word “dialogue” comes from the Greek dialogos, meaning “conversation,” derived from dia- (“through, inter”) and logos (“speech”). It can be a productive way to exchange ideas, to convey information and occasionally a way to reach agreement. In novels, writers will often use dialogue to reveal character, contrasting opinions and to advance the plot–to move the story forward.
Not So Quiet Lee 