what to hear some juicy gossip?

theres a lot of gossip flying around right now. and i mean about everything. everything having to do with relationships, that is. well, i don't really know what all the gossip is about...so don't be expecting to get anything juicy...or anything for that matter. i'm not writing about gossip so i can gossip. its just been something that i've been thinking about lately.

the thing is, i kinda enjoy gossip. who doesn't? well, i'm sure theres a select few people out there don't struggle with the desire to be "in the know". but adolescence is the time where rumors fly and your ears are itching to catch them. alright. so that statement falls short of maturity in adulthood...where of course, rumors continue to fester. you want to be the first to inform your closest friends (or even at times not so close friends). why is that? why are people (including myself) so up in everyone else's business? its not like i want to use something i hear against a person or theres any practical reason to pass along the info. only to just know and have a conversation of "no ways!" and "they didn't!" and "you're kidding!"s. the problem with gossip is that you don't just sit and listen and then thats the end of it. no. for some reason it pops out in the next conversation, and the demeaning cycle continues.

i've been trying lately to refrain from participating in gossip...but in doing so, i'm having problems knowing what conversations i'm refraining from. we've been told that it is best to just stop it when it starts...but what exactly are we supposed to be stopping? what exactly makes gossip gossip. is it listening or divulging personal information about others that is none of your business? dishing out dirt? updating a friend about another friends happenings? is it simply talking about someone without them being there? if this last one is, then i'm guilty all the time. what else do you have to talk about besides the people and events in your life and your feelings about it...and of course the weather. when does a conversation cross that line into the realm of gossip? i guess we'll just all have to keep using our judgment...which, of course, will most likely not encompass the juicy stuff we want to pass along. why? because we want something to talk about.

well, meanwhile, i'm going to keep trying my best to discover what gossip is. and when i realize that a conversation is gossip, hopefully i'll be able to walk away rather than sweep it up and dump the dirt on someone else.