I’ve had a life-long fear of being seen. I know I’m not the only one. Many people are hiding in plain sight with this fear. When I reflect, I can see that it comes down to a fear of not measuring up, being seen as imperfect or as a fraud, being inadequate, or worse yet, being seen as fundamentally flawed. While this has become less of an issue as I’ve worked through these things, it still rears its head. Can you relate?
We live in an overly individualistic society. In fact, individualism is highly applauded in many ways. The demands are extreme that we look and act just right, excel, are successful (in very particular ways), are culturally beautiful, that we are all things to all people, and that we go it alone. It’s too heavy!
The demands are impossible but we don’t dare let anyone see our struggles, we simply do our best to bear up under it all, hiding in plain sight, — until we can’t any longer. I think of Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, and many others. Social media has only proven to increase these demands and the craziness of it all.