When is too direct, too direct?

This story was submitted by Andy Sitison to the Stories of How We Show Up collection as part of the July SEEQ sessions.

When is too direct, too direct? I am an open book primarily. It comes from my mother’s side and growing up in North Carolina where anyone will share any story if given a minute of time and a proximity of three feet. This openness translates to my social approach. The more the merrier I say. This doesn’t mean I don’t curate my content I do. But that is more of a steering wheel process than a braking one. What I haven’t knowingly been punished by my openness, but In surprised by how little engagement I get in return. I believe i collect a fair number of lurkers, and a standard handful of liker ls who seem to be redundant to a fault. I am open to engagement and the inadvertent feedback that comes with it. But, i find that thin. Recently i have been tightening my content leaving more open-ended questions in my posts and have increased interaction across my social constituents. “Less of me” seems more accepted. The answer here may lie in the fact that a genuine but exhaustive version of you may be authentic but unpalatable. Our facades are like bird feathers. They attract. They are less than total representations, but necessary to engage and participate in humanity