Alexa Espinoza CTP blog #2

After reading chapter nine on Interpersonal communication the area I found most interesting was the section on self-disclosure. I think it’s very important for everyone to understand; no two people are the same. The way humans open up to one another can be vastly different and understanding that there are different components to self-disclosure is the first step to being okay with opening up. For someone to want/ feel comfortable to reveal information about themselves can take a lot of effort, so the theory I wanted to talk about was social penetration. I think these two go hand-in-hand because with social penetration, closeness develops if people proceed in gradual and orderly fashion from superficial to more intimate levels of exchange. Closeness is achieved through a reciprocal self-disclosure that is both broad and deep.

I’ve always been a very introverted person, but when you get to know me you wouldn’t believe some of the things that can come out of my mouth. I’m usually a home body, I don’t like to leave my house and make new friends too much because I have my group of friends that I know are lifers and that have already peeled my back one layer at a time. (#Nonewfriends) My two best friends have been in my life since I was 10 or 11 and have been the only two, to never leave my side and have revealed all my layers. However, besides the two of them I have 4-5 other close friends that I’ve made through work. I’ve worked at the same store for a little over six years; we are what we like to call a “Mom and Pop” small business family owned business that has no more than 50 employees at our five different locations in WI. The location I work at has only six employees total, so you can guess over time we’ve all gotten pretty close, and as more time passes by we’ve all gotten closer and closer. This year though we’ve all started to hang outside of work, which makes me incredibly happy. We are family. It’s still interesting to me though that after all these years; the guys and me are still peeling back layers at a time. This summer we’ve all been able to connect on more broad and deep self-disclosure.

This photo is my coworkers looking out into the distance (Since i'm the only girl, I make them do cheesy thing's) one day over the summer when we were all hanging out on a rooftop just talking about life, the store, our futures. Moments like these when the six of us are together make my heart sing.