Friends of mine are obsessed about bad things — many of them true — said about them on the internet. This is totally understandable. Reading bad things about yourself, especially when true, feel like a knife ripping through your abdomen.
Though this is the natural reaction, it does not have to be your dominant reaction. The quicker you can learn to laugh about your felony conviction for drug dealing, for example, or diddling that secretary at the office while you were a married Orthodox rabbi, the quicker you can come to terms with your bad self, the quicker other people will come to terms with your bad self.
On the internet, nobody has to know you’re a dog. You can construct whatever identity you want. It will be easier for you in the long run if you can construct something based in truth, but whatever. Use social networking, blogs, videos and other tools to show that side of yourself you most want the world to see, rather than obsessing over negative stuff.
