For Those Afraid to be Themselves:

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You say all the right words,

Do all the rights things,

Make all the right moves,

And avoid all the stings,

You live your life,

With that fake energy you wear,

Is that really what you want?

Is that something you can bear?

It’s false, it’s phony,

Don’t you see,

By doing this,

You hide away all the beauty you can be,

You only hurt yourself,

By denying who you really are,

Shed the layers of your facade,

And you will shine like a star,

–mrprose

6 thoughts on “For Those Afraid to be Themselves:”

  1. I knew someone who said this same type of thing. She said she felt she needed to always entertain people, especially people she didn’t know well like her hairstylist. She said it was an exhausting way for her to live and she wanted to get over the need to “perform” all the time. I didn’t understand her words back then so much as I do now after reading this poem. It is very insightful. Thanks for posting.

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    • Thank you, and I can share her pain. It is because we are performers. We set expectations for ourselves that can be very difficult to achieve, but if we don’t, we feel like failures. Like I wrote in a piece I will soon post, there is pressure that we set on ourselves. She and I and just two of many that need to learn to be ourselves and not anybody else.

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  2. I’m a nontraditional student in college (non-traditional b/c I’m in my thirties, married, and working). But of course I’ve made a lot of friends with the younger students. They seem to always be amazed at how open I am; they think I’m fearless. I tell them, when you get older, you just learn to accept who you are. If someone doesn’t like me, that’s fine. I don’t need them in my life. I’m done hiding my weirdness, my unique perspective on life. I want to be ME, and screw what others think.

    BTW, I really liked your poem.

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