A Wren Says

I have been thinking a bit about image this week. More specifically my image about how others see me. Not so much, unfortunately, how I see my myself. Man, have you any idea how much energy it takes to do the recon on all the possible ways people might perceive you? And then try and act in ways to manipulate that perception? It is a lot.

It has been a lifetime of carefully curating a set of behaviors, just so I could (maybe) be seen in the best light possible, and then people would (maybe) like me, or at least no one would have a reason to dislike me. There are a lot of things I haven’t done, solely because of the thought, “What would people think?”

But I ask myself now, what harm would actually come if people had to see me in more nuanced ways? I mean not much. Right? Realistically, the worse that would happen is that people would whisper about me in secret. Or gasp! They wouldn’t like me. But the best that would happen is that I would like me. And I would be free to shout, and dance, and joyfully live my life in ways I wouldn’t before.

I highly doubt that when I submit this post the switch over to that lifestyle will happen instantly. I am certainly going to have to keep working through this, cultivating my own opinion and sharing it. Thank you for taking this journey with me.