I have a confession. For as long as I've been in recovery, I've disliked the saying "We are as sick as our secrets." I don't like to describe myself as sick, and I think that the saying implies that we can or should share our secrets freely.
I get it that secrets can eat away at us, but there's a reason why we've kept them secret for so long. Sharing a secret with someone close to us can provide relief, but talking about certain secrets may also require professional support.
People have to earn the right to hear your secrets. Or my secrets.
My friend, actress and author Mackenzie Phillips, says that we don't have to uncover and disclose all of the details of our secrets. They can stay unexcavated.
We don't even have to tell them to ourselves. We don't have to speak or share all secrets.