When to merge your lives

I’ll admit, I’m torn. I would likely not be the first to say that writing down your thoughts is A Good Thing™. So, when you already have a website where you post blogs to, surely, you should post your thoughts there!

Well… What do you do when your existing blog is meant to be semi-professional, where you can write technical blog posts? I’m aware that it’s not the most professional website known to man, nor is it as much ‘writing’ as it’s ‘tutoring’. So far, most of my posts have been about some idea or obsession that I enjoyed immersing myself in, which might be useful to others. But, is it actually smart to have potential future employers look at my blog and learn about my inner thoughts and emotions?

Most of these ‘personal blog posts’ would likely revolve around topics like mental health, job searching, non-technical hobbies, etc. Topics which are more close to me as a person, than a temporary obsession that I have. I’d put down some of my thoughts in a Markdown file and chuck it into GitHub for all to see. Including future employers.

Conquest of workplace taboo

While the general sentiment to mental health and open dialogue is getting better, it’s still nowhere near where I’d want it to be. Many workers would rather not talk about how they feel to their employer, because they’re scared that it would have adverse effects¹. They’re scared about being stigmatized and discriminated against, simply because they have different problems than most.

And whether I like it or not, I still need to take care of what I post. Some of it might come back to haunt me. I already have regrets about sharing my problems with previous employers, so maybe I shouldn’t give them more fuel to throw on the fire. But then again, maybe I need to change things instead of simply waiting for them to change.

Perpetuating stigma

Not too long ago, I talked to a counselor who specialized in helping people with mental hardships and he said something I’ll never forget (paraphrasing):

I’ve worked with people like this for a long time now and, sadly, I oftentimes hear them say that they don’t think they fit into their dream job or maybe even the job market as a whole. But, after hearing them out about their experiences, it’s obvious to me that most of these people actually do fit into their dream job. They’ve just had shitty employers.

And that opened my eyes a bit. By assuming that future employers would take offense to me writing a blog post about my mental health, I am myself stigmatizing employers that I haven’t even met! How can I sit and become prejudiced about something, whilst also complain about it? It’s a fallacy which I’m careful to not fall into, yet I often slip.

So, what’s the final verdict? Should I dump my brain into a text editor and share it online? My answer would be “fuck it, why not.” Surely, I’ll find out whether it’s a good idea or not, sometime in the future.