"True intimacy should free us to be ourselves." — Wow, this is such good advice.
What I have a hard time reconciling is that so much of my internal self, the Me that no one else knows about, is the less elevated expression of me. It is the dark shadow version of me. It is true, it is all me for real—but it is the corrupted version: selfish, isolationist, ungenerous.
And then many of those same traits and qualities, when brushed with some sort of light or hope, gain their true form and color—which is kind and communal and warm.
That better version of me is totally true. I want people to know and experience that version. But I also want people to know my dark side, my weaknesses, fears, my wrongness—because I feel as though I am not fully known until they see those facets of me.
"True intimacy should free us to be ourselves." — Wow, this is such good advice.
What I have a hard time reconciling is that so much of my internal self, the Me that no one else knows about, is the less elevated expression of me. It is the dark shadow version of me. It is true, it is all me for real—but it is the corrupted version: selfish, isolationist, ungenerous.
And then many of those same traits and qualities, when brushed with some sort of light or hope, gain their true form and color—which is kind and communal and warm.
That better version of me is totally true. I want people to know and experience that version. But I also want people to know my dark side, my weaknesses, fears, my wrongness—because I feel as though I am not fully known until they see those facets of me.