I just realized that I have done nothing today other than read people's diaries. It is still baffling to me that not only am I allowed to do this, but they actually want people like me to be doing this. My written diary has always been sacred, and not even my husband (who knows EVERYTHING about me) is allowed to peek.

And glimpsing at the inner thoughts of others is not new to me. Actually, it is my career. Yep, I'm a therapist. (note, do not ask me advice or for interpretations. I don't take my work home with me.) Actually, when people find out what I do for a living, I get one of two reactions. The most common is the general belief that I am now an expert on their life and their problems. I'm not. If they came in to talk to me for an hour a week over an extended period of time and had no other contact with me, I would then be viewing them through that lens, but I turn all of that stuff off when I go home. The other reaction is a combination of fear and distain. I have been told things like 'Oh I don't believe in that'. That's fine if you don't think it would work for you, but don't dismiss everything I have worked towards as imaginary. I also notice a lot of these people are afraid to 'reveal' anything to me or worse, think I already instinctively know all of their deepest secrets.

Here is the truth about myself and my professional breverend:

We aren't experts on the anwers. We are trained in knowing what questions need be asked for everone to arrive at their own path. We are regular people with the same problems as everyone else.

And we are not obsessed with sex. Okay, some of them are not. I am, but again that's in my personal life, not my professional one.

Now contact me about your childhood.