What if you hid nothing and were just nakedly who you are? What would happen?
Which begs the question, why isn’t this our default?
The reason it isn’t our default becomes obvious the minute you begin to seriously consider what it would be like – we don’t do it because we are afraid. Afraid of what repercussions it might have…
I heard someone interviewed recently who said there are three versions of each of us. Self #1 is the one we let the world see, this is our default in life. Self #2 is the one we only expose to our closest loved ones and friends. And self #3 is the one that only lives in our mind, this is the fully unique version of us that thinks and does things that we don’t share with anyone.
Art allows one to expose self #3, perhaps not directly, but obliquely. I would argue that this is one of the reasons why great art is so moving – it is touching us in some deeply private way.
The interesting thing I have learned in 60 years of living and paying attention, is that the more of yourself you expose, the more charismatic and compelling you become. People are drawn to fearlessly authentic humans who are not afraid to expose themselves, weaknesses, warts and all.