As It Seems?

I sometimes wonder if anyone is actually truly themselves. It was the snow that got me wondering about this, I suppose. It disguises everything - distinctly shaped objects become anonymous blurs under the weight of this white blanket. It's beautiful, yes. But it's not revealing, or real. Snow covers up the scratches and imperfections. Just like the façade a lot of people put on.

People often say they don't like how someone has 'changed'. I have always found this an inadequate reason not to like someone because people do change. They grow up, make new friends, find themselves and who they’re most comfortable being. Yes, sometimes this means leaving others behind. But that’s how life goes. Aside from birth and death, the only other inevitable thing in life is change.

True, when someone overnight turns on their old friends and starts acting differently it can be painful. People get hurt, people get angry but ultimately, you have to accept that it’s their life. And let them do with it what they will.

The media is full of messages such telling us to ‘be true to ourselves’ and ‘be who we are’. I often wonder what the world would be like if people actually did this. If everybody always said what they were thinking, and ‘were who they are’ all the time, I’m convinced that within one day many things would get said that would hurt people, fights would break out and, whilst some friendships – the honest kind, the kind of friendships where there are no lies – would flourish, many others would rapidly deteriorate. Society contradicts itself. At the same time as telling us to be true to ourselves, it also silently conditions us to behave in a certain way, at a certain time.

Take an example 3-year-old boy, and let’s call him Oliver. In the middle of a quiet and solemn church service, Oliver will cry, scream and laugh to his heart’s content. Does he care that everyone else is silent? No. Is he even aware that he is the only one behaving as such? Of course! Oliver hasn’t been conditioned by the rules and conducts of society as yet. Oliver responds to what he feels, with no regard of his appearance to other people. The same cannot be said of teenagers and adults. We learn as we grow up that different people require different levels of politeness, different kinds of language, different actions. Essentially, we each put on a different façade for every different kind of people.

I, for instance, would never act in the same way around my parents as I do around my best friends. However, I would never argue with my best friends or insult them the way I do my brothers. If I met someone famous or whom I admired, I wouldn’t start a conversation beginning “Would you rather poo through your mouth or eat through your bum?” as I would with some of my closer friends. And although I’m convinced that my God already knows me back to front, it’s taken a long time for me to learn to pray and be open with him like I am with friends. I’m sure it’s similar for you too.

So the question I’m interested in is this. If we conjure up a different front for ourselves with different kinds of people, then which façade is actually the real you?

Just something to ponder over.

God bless,

Love, Anna :)

P.S: I have started checking my blogposts through before I post them, albeit very briefly. There should hopefully be slightly less words missed out and spelling mistakes than before ;)