Don't let the bastards get you down

It's askin' for trouble to stick out your neck

Some people think it's odd that I share so much of myself online. Some people think it's worse than odd.

The thing is, I know that my vulnerability can be weaponized. It’s not a surprise to me when the things I’ve written are misreported and leveraged against me. I have been posting my thoughts online since 1989, and I've experienced fallout from it again and again.

But sharing my stories online has also given me phenomenal opportunities for connection. Like when I wrote a series of tweets about how I felt as a 16 year old girl, watching Kris Kristofferson support Sinead O'Connor after she spoke out against sexual abuse happening in the Catholic church.

When she tried to perform a few weeks later, the audience was booing her so loudly she froze. The organizers of the event told Kristofferson to go get her off the stage. He instead went and stood next to her and said "Don't let the bastards get you down.”

Seeing that happen caused a seismic shift in my brain about who sticks up for whom. …