The Vulnerability of Sharing

I sent this blog link to close friends and family today. I'm not quite ready to share it on social media, but that might be due to a little bit of PTSD from an encounter (of sorts) with my opponent. I won't share the details here, but if you want to hear the story in person, I'm happy to share what I learned.

I used "vulnerability" in yet another blog post title because one thing I had to face early on was that my life wasn't private anymore. I've always had a private Instagram account, largely so that I can have a safe space away from students, parents, employers, etc., but I had a public Facebook account. A couple of friends recommended I lock down my social media accounts and/or clean it up because you never know what can be used against you. I filed March 4, but didn't make my Facebook account private until mid-April. Who knows what was seen or how my posts were "interpreted," but one friend said that an interested party (who cared about me!), looked at my Facebook profile + posts and gave this feedback: 

"I have a suggestion for those of you helping Audryn. She ought to clean up her fb (and other social media?) page. I watched a number of her personal videos and she doesn't come across as a teacher who loves her job. Or her students. And there's one with her flouting Covid protocols, in her classroom, the day the district presented them to its staff. There's also a post of her whiteboard that is extremely offensive toward her students."

This comment left my aghast. People who know me know that teaching is my true passion and I love my students and care about them deeply. I don't believe any of my posts or videos portrayed what this third party was claiming, BUT, in campaigning, it doesn't matter what your intention is/was, it matters how it is interpreted or seen by audiences (particularly your voters). 

You can't please everyone, and you shouldn't try to. No human can manage that load or take on that kind of responsibility. I can recommend what was shared with me: make your personal accounts private and lock them up BEFORE you file. 

Also, give yourself grace and patience as you work through this public sphere you're thrown into. It took me a couple of months to grapple with the fact that I was suddenly a public name attached to something. I wasn't just some rando doing my own thing. What I did, who I was, how I acted, etc. mattered.