As this makes its was around Facebook this week I eventually had a friend give me the number 10. I usually hate anything Facebook trend related, though this one has been pretty interesting. I’ve learned things about people I would never have guessed in a million years. My list was pretty straightforward, as you can imagine.

Thanks Michelle Tibbles, my number is 10

1. I was quite premature and weighed about 2 lbs
2.My mom was a Martha Stewart before it ever became popular
3. My dad was a Marine Vet specializing in whales before he was in a plane crash.
4.Had a bad habit of knocking over people’s mailboxes in High School
5. Did not get into Honor Society in HS because I was accused of cheating , yep I was a handful in my younger years.
6. Really an introvert that struggles with going out and even talking to people.
7. I have a lot of tattoos, and a piercing (I’ll let you guess)
8. Have had electricity run through my brain.
9.I have lived with severe mental illness most of my life.
10. Have been a closet blogger for over a year.

It was rather difficult to think of things people would not know about me. We all have a bias in what we post and share on FB. It fleshes us out and give us shape in this computer universe of friends. I can usually figure out quite a bit from what people share. I am no different in that respect. I figured why not repeat my list, but this time 10 things I doubt my therapists know. This one is infinitely harder. I think I have shared so much of myself.

1.I was to be Kate, that was my parents first choice.
2. I cannot stand perfumes, scented dyes and the like. I can’t even switch detergents or dryer sheets without getting a headache. I am forever stuck with Tide original scent and bounce dryer sheets. My favorite smell in the world is a working art studio, the mix of clay, oil paint and creativity.
3.Have to wear a bra, even when I just run up the hill to check on the horses. don’t like free balling it.
4. Couldn’t go out without hair done and full make up during all my high school years, how far I’ve come???
5. Foods I can’t stand- goat cheese, raw unions, curry, liver (unless it is my mother’s famous chopped liver), most fish, but especially Salmon. Chinese five spice, think it is a smell thing.
6. Love good writing, either novels or poetry. Favorites: Tennyson, Walt Whitman, Margret Atwood, Sylvia Plath (for her visceral no-nonsense approach), Emily Dickinson. More contemporary writers and books In the Woods by Tana French, The Book Thief, The Lovely Bones, Steig Larsson’s Dragon trilogy. Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees.
7.I love almost all art, even if it isn’t visually appealing to me. I see it for the beauty of the creation at the hands and mind of another artist.
8. I love to garden. Real hands in the dirt sitting on your knees gardening. I hate to water plants, so my gardens are mostly tough as nails perennials. I don’t do annuals.
9. Irrationally afraid of the dark, and of spiders. and yes I will scream like a girl.
10. I have forgotten more than I care to remember including my secrets. This was a hard task. Far too hard.

And there is my second list. I’m sure others will come to me along the way. The FB list officially outed me as a blogger though I chose not to share the link. If people look hard enough they can find it. I’m not ready to launch it publicly yet. That would be a huge step.
Getting closer though. Day by day I move closer to being free of anonymity. This blog is my voice, like it or not.