in defense of randomicity

So that game "25 Random Facts" is taking over Facebook. It's been kind of interesting to read them, though I can't say I've done more than skim over most. I've really just enjoyed reading things about people I know very well and seeing the facts they choose to post about themselves. Very revealing, I guess.

It has me thinking, though-- a lot of people have begun with some declaration of resistance, like, "Okay, I've had 87 requests from other people. FINE, I'll do it!" First of all, I don't believe you're being pressured into anything. If you're so weak-willed that you can't escape scary, oppressive Facebook games, my guess is you need to do some reevaluating in your life. The bigger question, however, is why people feel the need to insist something like, "I never know what to say about myself" and "#25 is not going to be clever because I can't think of anything?" Really? Is this true? Or is it some kind of attempt to seem humble-- like 24 facts is acceptable, but 25 just smacks of pride.

The fact is this: I have no trouble whatsoever coming up with 25 random facts to list about myself. Indeed, I have no trouble whatsoever making all sorts of confessional lists about myself on an almost weekly basis. I have had two recent blog posts entitled "Blog Secret," based on the concept of Post Secret, which is, when you boil it down, just a slightly more revelatory version of "25 Random Facts." Does this make me a self-centered person? What does it mean, exactly, that I can talk on and on and on about myself? I like to think that it means I'm just a very open person who knows herself well. That's what it means right?

I'm actually kind of proud of that fact-- that I've come so far as to consider myself an open person. For much of my life I wanted to be an open person, but wasn't actually. I didn't talk to my family about personal things for most of my childhood and youth. I have always had a few close friends who know everything about me, but frankly, that's what my journal has always been for. In the last few years, it's been so much more liberating to just be happy with myself, and proud to be an interesting person (within reason, of course).

I saw that movie Ghost Town recently, which was a whole lot more adorable than I expected it to be-- also a lot more poignant (pronounced "poiguh-nant" for those of you who call yourself English majors) than I anticipated. At one point, Tea Leoni is going on about the vitality of living your own life, no matter how small it is--

We just get the one life, you know, just one. We can’t live someone else’s, or think it’s more important just because it’s more dramatic. What happens matters. Maybe only to us, but
it matters.

Maybe it's silly, but that's what this "25 Random Facts" business reminded me of. I don't think people should be lothe to talk about themselves, or pretend like they have nothing interesting to say. I think it's really great that people are opening up, even if it's just to list a few seemingly insignificant things about themselves that most people probably didn't know. Habits and behaviors are really interesting and I, for one, like reading about them.

But listen-- if you can't come up with 25 things of your own, by all means, I'll make up the difference for you.