The who that one is
That the world can see
Is vastly different from
Who you know yourself to be
If all life is a stage
We are actors in a play
The characters that we are
Are simple hearsay
To know oneself
Is to speak in truth
Not by word or deed
But in innocence of youth
I was thinking about the different “selves” that we present to others. To the world at large, we are one layer of ourselves, the shallowest layer. If a friendship forms, then we give another layer that colors the initial layer. As the relationship deepens, so does the giving of our various layers to that relationship. We learn this behavior, of hiding ourselves, as we grow out of childhood. If only we could present our full selves as if we were children. How much more sincere would the world be?