Rhetorical question (sort of)

[lotta]

Why is it easier to share the intimate details of one's life with total strangers than to share them with those we are closest to?

Comments

[bjorng]

Fear of rejection. If a stranger rejects you, you've lost very little. But if it's someone close, it hurts a bond that is important to you.

Rejection in this sense can also mean simply failing to live up to your expectations. You expect a stranger to give at most a polite response; anything more is a bonus.

By contrast, you can have extremely high expectations of a loved one: you may feel rejected simply because s/he doesn't already know your mind, or give you the response you feel you should get. Even the most heartfelt response can feel like rejection if it's wrong for you, or you're not ready for it.

[lotta]

How true. Expectations and assumptions are, I think, what lies at the heart of most misunderstandings.

[take_a_pill]

because strangers don't care, therefore they don't judge, and if they even did, you wouldn't care.