## Authentic...But Anonymous? If you haven't picked up on it yet, I have decided to remain anonymous within this project. I can imagine the confusion some might have with the juxtaposition of wanting to express myself authentically, but choosing to do so anonymously. Throughout these notes, I plan on openly sharing details about myself, including topics that people may consider private or even controversial. This is a space where I can be radically honesty and it's somewhere I feel comfortable being vulnerable. As such, it was important to me that I try to maintain a some degree of privacy. So rather than using my name in these notes, I will replace it with <mark style="background: #FF5582A6;">Stranger</mark>. And any other occurrence of a name or word similarly highlighted in red means I'm using an alias for their privacy. For example, instead of saying "Xavier and I played cards," I'll say "<mark style="background: #FF5582A6;">Larry R.</mark> and I played cards." ## Relationships Are Built On Trust Obviously, if I shared this directly with you then there goes that concept of being anonymous. If we know each other and I shared this with you, then that means we have a baseline of trust that made me feel comfortable letting you in. If we just met and I shared this with you, then I guess that means you passed the vibe check and this my first effort in building trust with you. ## Please Consider My Privacy I am not ignorant to the fact that the information I share could possibly fit together like puzzle pieces that lead someone to figuring out who I am. And I am 100% okay with that. However, I would like to respectfully ask you to consider my privacy. I value the choice of which people in my life to open up to and let in. So, I would prefer that people find out about this project directly from me. If we do in fact know each other, please don't share this with other people in our community. Your consideration for my privacy is sincerely appreciated.