Gossip

Why are we so obsessed with other people’s lives?

I watched Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette last week and I started thinking about gossip. Throughout the whole movie people were constantly whispering about her, wherever she walked, anything and everything she did, people gossiped. Gossip, is such a nasty word, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Yet, I, like many many other people am guilty of gossiping.

It led me to wonder, why are we so obsessed with other people’s lives? In my celebrity driven culture of Los Angeles, I am bombarded with the lives of other people. Celebrities all over the news, I love tabloids, although the last time I read one was over 5 weeks ago, so I have no idea what is going on. I don’t think I even want to know anymore.

The worst thing about gossiping is the lies. How do we know that whoever is getting married or is pregnant? And honestly who cares? It is a pleasurable thing for people to read and gossip about others, because it helps us escape our own realities. During my unemployment phase I had to face my reality face to face. I couldn’t escape it by reading US Weekly or turning on TMZ. I was unemployed, broke and a month away from being out on my ass. Granted my unemployment was a decision that I chose to make for myself, to better my life. And I highly doubt that any of those celebrities would have helped me during my stressful period.

I hate when people gossip about me. I’m sure everyone feels like that, but the thing about me is that my life is an open book. Against my mother’s wishes, I don’t mind sharing things about myself. I am a writer, and the most important thing about writing, is being honest to your readers. I can’t lie about frivolous things when I write. Everything comes out in the open. I beg you, to never gossip or talk shit about me behind my back because unlike those stories you read about Angelina Jolie or whoever, you can just ask me. I like to play this game of 20 questions for people who don’t know me. They can ask me what ever they want. I don’t have anything to hide. It might be a bad thing to be so open, but I like to go in to every situation with my eyes wide open so I know what I could be getting in to.

No secrets between my boyfriend and I, even if I tried to do something to surprise him, I end up telling him anyways. There was this article in Maxim a few months ago about how much women lie during the dating or wooing process with men. The things people lie about are so ridiculous. According to this article women lied about their age (I’m 24), their weight (I weigh 123), their past lovers and/or relationships (5/3) and the age they were when they first lost their virginity (14). Now you may or may not be shocked by my numbers above, but I don’t really care, because I am honest and I don’t feel like I have anything to hide.

Gossiping is such a nasty addiction and I am on my way to recovery for it. I don’t want to talk about people, especially people that I don’t know behind their backs anymore. There are more important things going on in this world than gossiping. So I pose my 20 questions to all the strangers who read my blog, ask me any thing you want, and I will answer the questions honestly. And for the people who know me, and gossip about me, please ask me, I will tell you how I feel about any and everything.