Why Unredacted?

A couple of folks that have read Unredacted said that I was a brave soul for writing some of the stuff I did. Yes, I guess that is true, but putting it all out there was for a reason. I wrote Unredacted with the intention of letting those who live in fear of their past know that it is all ok. The past simply doesn't matter.

Everyone has a story, and Unredacted is mine. There is so much in my story that if anyone reading it is totally honest with themselves, they can relate to many things in the book.

People with an open mind reading Unredacted will fully grasp what living a lie does to someone. It can make one crazy and can bring many to the brink of suicide, or at least think seriously about it. That is one part of my story I didn't put in and I should have. I was at that point where suicide was on my mind. Would I have ever done it? No, and clearly I didn't. LOL. But many have, sadly, taken that final step, simply because they fear their past and their lives as who they are.

Now that I have written this book there is a sense of liberation I never had before. No one can hold a God damned thing over my head!

Will someone's opinion of me change for the worst because of the things I have written about? Yes, probably, but I don't care anything at all about that. Those who will judge my actions and the things I have done simply need to look into the mirror of their past, and they will see things as well, that they have hidden away, and deny. Will some people's opinion of me change for the better because of what I wrote? Yes, probably, that will be the case too. Many also will simply say, "That's Jim, and it's no big deal." LOL.

Unredacted is my point at which I can finally be honest with myself about everything, and be free from the grip of fear and self-loathing that was so common in my days gone by. It is my hope that by reading this book, many will have a newfound respect for those living lives that are not a true reflection of who they are, and that they exude a degree of empathy and understanding for folks and what they have done, and simply let people live their lives.