Public vs. Private

I think something that all creative people struggle with is balancing their private life with their public life. And most of the time we talk about how hard it is to find the time and space for creativity.

But there is another tension that we don't talk about as much and this is the tension between keeping the private, private and keeping the public, public.

This is probably something that fiction or maybe memoir writers struggle the most with. How tempting it is to put that conversation down you heard at the coffee shop into a novel...how wonderful is it to work out your family's drama in a book, or to live in your imaginary dream life (and maybe even give it all a happy ending). But of course, aunt ____ might not want her secrets spilled in a novel and your dad doesn't want to read about your fantasies either!

Still this tension is carried through to other kinds of writing as well. This dissertation doesn't spring from a made up interest. I am interested in childhood as a concept which affects life. And I'm interested in it in a very public way. I think for far too long children have remained an aspect of the private and we haven't given childhood a chance to speak in the public arena. Of course, however, when one makes childhood public there is a host of other issues -we have to start talking about the rights of children and how to protect them in that space. We have a responsibility to act as well once we regard childhood as a public concept.

And yet, childhood is also intimately personal and private. And should remain so. It is one of the reasons why I am putting less pictures of Fiona up on the web -she deserves a chance to make herSELF known, and not through the eyes of her momma. And I also, have to learn to write this dissertation without resorting to sharing all the details, hopes, dreams, pains of my own childhood. I have to keep it all balanced as I write. I have to decide what is of interest to me and only me and what should interest others.

In any case, this is something that challenges my writing (when I do find time to do it). How shall I balance the private and public? How shall I share with the world? How does the world share itself with me?