Dear Prudence,
How do you think people should balance being themselves and making others comfortable around them? I don’t have an issue with anybody but my sister, “Amy.” Amy seems to hate everything about how I communicate. She thinks everything I say is either judgmental towards her or like I’m rubbing my accomplishments in her face, which I don’t understand because she’s very accomplished herself. I’ve always suspected she’s felt this way about me, but she finally snapped recently and told me. I don’t really know what to do with this information. I am being very honest when I say I am not intentionally being judgmental nor egotistical to my sister. I don’t want my sister to feel uncomfortable around me, but I don’t want to walk on eggshells around her. Do I just reassure my sister that I am not being the things she says I am and keep communicating the way I do? Is it my responsibility to completely change the way I talk around her?
—Talking in Circles