I may write more about this on my personal blog - do check it out if you haven't already.

I have been wanting for a couple of weeks to write a post about a play I had the pleasure of taking in with my blogger friends Kerri, Julia, and Shannon. So, rather than write about the letter H, I'm going to write about Some Things Are Private . The play is showing at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI, where I have the pleasure of being employed.

Live theater is a fantastic medium. What other opportunity do people have, in this day and age, to sit together in a room and watch a moment, a day, a lifetime unfold before their very eyes? I am fortunate to work for a theater that also offers the audience the opportunity to stay after the show and discuss and reflect upon what they've seen. The discussions are always interesting, funny, and thought-provoking. If you've never been and would like to go, leave me a comment, I can make it happen.

Some Things Are Private is about the work of Sally Mann. Mann's photographs of her family, featured in her book Immediate Family, particularly those of her unclothed children, caused quite a bit of controversy when they were released. The play focuses on questions like "What is art?" What is pornography?" "Where is the line between art and pornography - between public and private?" "Who draws the lines?" The script is drawn from actual interviews, articles, and letters with and from Sally Mann and with and from those who objected to her work. It creates a fairly passionate case on both sides of the issue. And no matter what your opinion is going in - you can't help but question yourself as the action progresses.

Oddly, as I watched the play with my three friends, these questions and the controversy around Mann's photos were secondary in my mind. I was solely focused on the words of this artist as she defended her work. I was interested in the ideas she expressed about how her work is an honest reflection of her life - seen through her artist eyes - or "photo eyes" as she calls them. I realized quickly, I related very much to the things she was saying.

Although I don't believe my work has created any true uproar or controversy, I have received emails now and again asking me why I've written about some unpleasant diabetes experience or another. These readers have often expressed that the pieces they objected to were purposefully scary or sad or somehow sensationalized. I thought about these emails when the actress playing Sally Mann said, in defense of her work, "Maybe I choose to look at things that you'd rather not see." In art drawn from life, this is the key. You can't paint a rosey picture of something that is difficult. You can't simply look away from something, not capture it - in photos or words, because someone else may object to it or feel uncomfortable with it. If I want people to truly see my life, and get a real look at the effect diabetes has, there are going to be purposefully scary, sad words. I guess, honesty in telling my story is more important to me than approval. To most artists, I think, truth is the key to creating something beautiful.

Someone once asked me, "Why would you write about something THAT personal? (diabetes) Isn't it difficult?" My answer was "Because I think it might help someone else to know they're not alone." But I believe Sally Mann provided me with an even deeper answer to this question.

In talking about photos she's taking of her husband as his arm and leg muscles atrophy from Muscular Distrophy she says, "We are putting a frame around something so difficult, trying to give it meaning." This is the best response to a person asking why I write about my disease. Of course I write because I want to help others - but there is so much more to it. I write about diabetes because penning my story helps me to express my frustration, to give witness to my fears so that I can face them head on. I write about it because, at times, it frees some of the space that diabetes takes up in my brain and in my heart. I write about it because sometimes diabetes creates or sheds light on something beautiful, something deserving of being told. I write about it because it truly helps me to find meaning in something that is mostly senseless.

Each of us has our own reason for writing about diabetes, I know. Some of us see what we're doing as an art form. Others write to vent. Many, or even all of us, write to connect with others. But I think, deep down inside, in the end, we are all, "putting a frame around something so difficult, trying to give it meaning."

I appreciate so much the willingess of other bloggers to let me view their creations. Because even when they're difficult for me to see, the stories, the images of their lives, help me to find some sense in all of this. I hope you - and they - can say the same of me.