I’ve started writing several blog posts and then deleted them, but I wanted to post something today so I have written you this list of why I didn’t post:

1. I may change my mind and be held to what I thought at this moment because it is written down
2. Trolling, misogynist comments, and even threats stemming from blog posts are real
3. It’s a good story but it’s not mine to tell, or I worry that someone will feel I have violated their privacy
4. You might think I’m a bad mom/person
5. You might get the wrong idea that I think I am a perfect mom/person
6. I think someone else has already said it better
7. You may take my expression of beliefs as encroaching on yours when I just want to share mine
8. My toddler took over my attention and by the time I went to finish I was no longer interested in what I was writing about, or it was no longer timely
9. I don’t show myself enough empathy and forgiveness for stolen time, mistakes, and unsure choices
10. I worry I will do more harm than good
11. Technology was against me and the post was deleted
12. The Patriarchy (see reason #2 as a starting point but there’s a lot more here…)
13. I had to go spend my time doing something that pays me

Nothing brilliant, just a straight up, real list of reasons I’ve deleted about two dozen posts… some of these reasons I am trying to work through during this year of courage and others are legit or serious enough to continue to cause me to push the delete button…