Who told you to hide?

“Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?” Pete Townshend

Ever ask yourself this question?

Poor Kurt Cobain once said,"Dreaming of the person you want to be is wasting the person you already are."


Perhaps poor Curt couldn’t live-up to the expectations of what others wanted him to be, or perhaps he simply wasted the gifted artist that he was with heroin and suicide. But before one quickly dismisses Curt for numbing out on life with herion and suicide, how many are numbed-out on approval of others, work, power, and prestige? Do we numb ourselves when we laugh at a joke of a boss that isn’t all that funny? Do we numb ourselves when we say “yes” when we’d rather say “no”. Anytime I project something other than my authentic self, I am committing suicide in my soul.

It seems rather easy to define myself by what I do; what I possess; where I live; and where I play; even the car I drive.

I don’t think it is natural for a person to hide who they are; I think it is learned. It's like the story of Adam and Eve. It's unnnatural to hide; it not God's intention; it's shame that makes one want to cover and hide. "Who told you to hide?" It’s “family” rules that are passed on from generation to generation. Some rules are so oppressive that the emotional growth of a person is stunted for life: Never cry; don’t be angry; don’t talk back; vote a certain way; believe a certain way about religion and faith. It seems that folks want you to conform to who they think you should be, not for your own good, but for theirs. Businesses, churches, soroities, and other organizations do it.

What does it really matter what another thinks? There’s an old saying found in the rooms of AA, “What you think of me is none of my buisness.” Jesus must had been to a few meetings for he didn't seem all that concerned with what other's thought of him. Even the question, "Who do you say I am?" could only be answered by living his life authentically. I think that is why most people liked being around Jesus; they were comfortable in their own skin in his presence. Granted the religious control freaks had issues with him, but that is mostly because he bent the rules for he was most concerned with the heart and soul of a person and not the image one projected. He didn't hide behind others ideas of what he should be; he knew who he was-- self-actualized-- which allowed him to even face death. I don't know, it seems that so many are afraid of be "killed" by the potential rejection of others, that they slowly commit suicide by comforming to the accepted "norm" whatever it is.

"Don't do, say, or act like that, someone will think..." are the words that make my gut clench like a pair of new Vice-Grips on a leaky water faucet. Perhaps my greatest pet peeve is when someone attempts to control me (really their fears) by "suggesting" that I concern myself with what others are thinking about me. When I do, I die.

“I'm looking for me
You're looking for you
We're looking in at other
And we don't know what to do.” Pete Townshend, The Seeker.