I heard you were curious as to why I wasn’t talking to a certain (now former) neighbor. She’s a bully and she makes up stories about people that she perceived as slighting her.

The finally straw for me was her spreading a rumor that your husband was cheating on you. It’s malicious and maybe now you’ll have a better understanding why I was upset about all the gossip.

You may have been taking part in your fair share of the gossip in here but you should know that it didn’t keep you immune from also being a target.

I have been told that gossip is normal. I do not believe socially isolating people with malicious rumors is “normal”. That’s why I became disengaged. It wasn’t because I like to do my own thing. I recognize that there’s more to what’s going on in people’s lives than maybe what they are sharing and that I don’t need to make myself feel better by saying disparaging things about others. I have my own work to do and that’s my focus.

Choose kindness.