by Thozama Ponti
Very often, we see people getting naked very easily, the world is boring because there’s a lot of nakedness - I will explain further about what I mean by this. People don’t think twice about revealing or exposing much about themselves, I mean it’s very easy to get to know about a person nowadays with them verbally communicating in the digital space.
I remember how this topic came about. It was when my teenage son was starting dating (not that he told me nor the fact that it was written all over his face!) But it was his social status (we all know what information we can obtain on social media about certain people, and it was exactly the same for my son. And when things were not going right in the relationship, I again I would see it in his status. His posts provided me much of the ongoing feedback of what was happening in real time. As a parent I watched helplessly thinking of ways of helping him. It was when the relationship was over that I could not keep quiet anymore. Not that he told me (again, I saw his posts). I believe they were both attacking each other through their profiles and their status posts.
I called him and asked: ‘What’s going on? He said nothing, to which I responded by saying: “You are very naked.” He looked at his clothes and looked at me with surprise on his face. I had to explain my comments and said, “I don’t mean physical nakedness, I mean feelings nakedness. You are too naked about your feelings. People know when you are in love, people know when you are in fights and people know when you are dumped.” I said, “I know and most people know that you are no longer with your girl (you are naked about how you feel).”
So my question to you all is, are you baring all your feelings in the digital space so that you can be noticed? Remember it’s nice to keep people in suspense at times. Our celebrities also tend to overshare their personal information, seemingly unaware that it could have a negative impact on their careers.
Give people space to figure you out. Let them ask themselves what is behind that cover/what is behind her reservedness/what is behind that nice look, what is going on in her life. This feelings nakedness can also affect people’s careers and business relationships. Employers now also follow the prospective candidate for some time to check their posts on social media. Remember, its very tempting at times to want to shout and let the world know what’s going on in your life, and at times you perhaps want to wear clothing that is maybe too revealing. Remember, it can have a negative impact on your life way beyond the moment. Exposing or revealing much about yourself can be viewed differently. And you don’t want to find yourself having to explain. Revealing too much about yourself is potentially much more damaging than revealing too little. Everyone has some information/part about themselves that they ought to keep secret. You almost will never be sorry that you said too little or showed too little, but will often regret saying too much or revealing too much.
Thozama Ponti, from Bloemfontein in South Africa, is the founder and CEO of Wilmon Guidance and Development Institute. A company offering Career Guidance Education and Student Support Programs. She is also a Christian Inspirational Speaker and describes herself as God’s little girl, a teacher, a mentor, a mother, a daughter and most importantly a sister. Thozama believes that one of the purposes for her existence is to offer guidance, advise and support that will move people from discouragement to self discovery in order to make clear and right choices about their lives and careers and she does this through both Wilmon Institute and as a Speaker.
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