Have you ever noticed that almost everyone on this website starts their posts with a "hey everyone!" Or "hi!"? This is just me thinking out loud so at this point you should stop reading if this idea sounds stupid to you. Anyway. It is kind of ironic how so many people come here with such big problems (lack of a better word, being gay or questioning isn't a problem) that are negative (unsupportive parents, etc.) yet pretend to be so upbeat about their lives. I guess I have a more negative view of it, how can they even fake positivity with such an issue looming in their life? Has society taught us to do this? Put up a facade when we introduce ourselves? Just a thought.
We are raised to be positive or neutral, at least in the culture here in the United States that I was brought up in (maybe other areas in the US are different). When you're asked "how are you" the response, barring it's a very close friend or family member with whom you can be honest, is always "fine, thank you." Perhaps that's the reason many do that here. Also, many people weren't raised to air their family's dirty laundry in public and so that may make the posts try to seem positive somewhat. But this is a support forum where you are by nature encouraged to be open of your issues and concerns and that may fly in the face of how many were brought up.
Constantly dwelling on negativity is unhealthy, and usually that negativity is due to external forces (like parents or other people), not the posters themselves. IMO, fake positivity is a misnomer because one can still be positive even under stressful and depressing circumstances. It would be even more depressing if everyone was a debbie downer and focused on the ugliness of reality.
Having negative circumstances doesn't negate the ability (or the justification) to be happy, polite, or sociable. During the height of eating disorders, depression, and anxiety, I was still capable of being (if not whollly, at least partially) happy at times, and was almost always able to remain polite and upbeat. Even though I wouldn't say it's rude to be negative, it is nicer to be polite and warm, even with problems. A façade when we introduce ourselves isn't exactly a bad thing. I have no intention of informing strangers of every aspect of my life when I'm not open about absolutely everything to anyone. Here, we can be more open, but I would still say that in situations which don't pertain to your problems, it's probably nicer to be as pleasant as you want to. I find it more superficial to entirely wallow in misery and incessantly complain than I find a more nuanced and broad range of emotions in someone with problems.
It's funny, i just joined EC today and posted my first blog, and the beging is exactly "hey everyone,".
I was just like you described when I made an introduction thread, and even though I was stressed about my sexual orientation, it's not like I was depressed or that it was destroying my life. Maybe that's not the case for everyone, but not everyone here is feeling miserable over it. For me it was just being polite and I have the personality of a puppy anyway so that's just how I am in new situations haha. I get what you're saying though. By the way, OP, you're cute
Mine was "Hi I'm thecat06" (That was my previous username..lol). Nothing exciting really. The thread itself was called "Hello". It was a really creative title (not).
