My New, More Public Self

When you join the Peace Corps, two of the many forms they ask you to fill out come from the Press Office. They are the Release Authorization Form and the Hometown News Release Form. The former is a standard, brief legal waiver. It will take about 15 seconds to fill out. The second is basically a series of mini-essays; seven, to be exact.

I've procrastinated filling them out. Indeed, I've procrastinated making an official announcement to family and friends. Many know by now, but some of the dearest friends I have still do not know. Now I'm being asked to let the world know.

I've always been a rather private person. I am still adjusting to the realities of joining national service. Now I am going to become an individual who is part of a larger entity. I really believe in the mission of this entity, to the point where I'm ready to change; to become a more public, "out there" kind of person. I'm coming out.

I have an opportunity coming up to do some of my announcements in person, at a family reunion, for which I will travel back to St. Paul. This will occur in mid-June. That is also about the latest I can wait to release the news to the press there. Meanwhile I should release it here, where it is much more likely to be published. Even if it is published, however, I don't expect any real notoriety. Which is just fine. If I wanted a high profile, I'd create a profile on Facebook.

Once I am in the Peace Corps, I intend to continue blogging, as a form of communication with my family, but in the public sphere and therefore also as a form of citizen journalism. Part of the intention of this blog is to ease me into the public blogosphere. I'm coming out.