persona

.


what i choose to be
for perception by others
not the me inside


.


Saw this "word of the day" on Google, and I thought: yeah. I've cultivated one of these over the years.

persona (noun) The role that one assumes or displays in public or society; one's public image or personality, as distinguished from the inner self.

And after a while I thought it's who I really was. But in the last few years, the facade cracked and I learned: Not so! Now I'm trying to get the outside to match the inside. Slow going, that. Not only do I want to get rid of what's fake on the outside, but also clean up what's on the inside, so that when inside and outside DO match... I'm not ashamed, but comfortable.

It's like cleaning your place when you're gonna have company... isn't it better to simply live in a clean place? :) Then people can come visit anytime with no special prep on your part; and you don't mind them seeing what it's like inside because it's how you always live. It's you - just well kept.