“Be yourself,” - to me, is as meaningful as “and they lived happily ever after”.
Everywhere we turn there’s people telling you to be yourself,
but is anyone really brave enough to be their true authentic self to the big wide world?
I don’t think so.
It’s just NOT that simple.
Because, while people tell you to be yourself, there’s also the expectation that being yourself will involve being kind, conscientious, hardworking, polite, successful, happy, impressive, loving, giving, never need mental health day...
perfect,
perfect
PERFECT all the goddamn time!
But the truth is, humans can be pretty dark and adventurous creatures.
They blessed humans with imaginations, and imaginations have a habit of running wild. Some of us are darker and more adventurous than others and some of us are more brave than others and a little more open about our dark, adventurous side. If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of braver ones. If you’re reading this from a blank profile, or incredibly ambiguous profile, you’re probably still hiding in the shadows, finding yourself, and that’s actually ok too.
I think it’s ok to not want to share “yourself” with everyone you meet, that in itself is very human, and it serves an important purpose, because I don’t think we could function as a society if we were our dis-inhibited authentic selves all the time.
I think we damage ourselves unintentionally though, when we deny ourselves who we really are in order to maintain an image, or to keep others happy.
ALL THE TIME!
I think many humans have a nasty habit of pretending to be something other than “yourself” in their most intimate relationships. So eager to please another, so in need of acceptance and the desire to be desired. We made life hard for ourselves when we decided that being yourself meant you were you, but you were still perfect. So we often pretend to be something we’re not for the people closest to us, so we don’t disappoint them.
But, You’re not perfect.
I’d never expect you to be.
I’m not going to tell you to be yourself, but do get to know yourself.
Then when you know yourself, find yourself some likeminded company.
Don’t exhaust yourself by being insincere with yourself in order to please others.
This is exactly what I did my entire life & I was NEVER content or happy