You know what I’ve noticed lately? People have lots of secrets. I’m not saying secrets are bad, because we all have things we’d rather not share with the class! That’s just human nature. No, it’s not the prospect of secrets themselves. It’s what people keep secret that I’m worried about.
One of the most common secrets that I have heard from my friends is, surprisingly, an interest. It’s amazing how many people hide things that really don’t need to be hidden. Things like “I actually don’t like pop music,” and “Pink is my favorite color.” You wouldn’t think that those sorts of things would be secrets. I mean, sure, you might not go door to door screaming “I like to wear eyeshadow, even though I always say that I hate makeup!”, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
I was thinking about this for a little bit last night, when I couldn’t sleep, and then, all of a sudden, I realized why. It’s because we all have an ideal person who we want other people to see when they look at us, even if that ideal person is not like them at all. We all have something that we want people to think when they look at us, like “She’s so artistic!” or “He’s so smart!” We don’t mean to, but we make stereotypes for ourselves. We seem to want to all be perfect, have all of our interests coordinate, to not be considered as an oddball. Of course, we know that it’s O.K. not to be considered normal, because we all have our little quirks. But often times, people keep things about themselves secret because they don’t want those things to be true about them. It doesn’t fit with the person that they want to be.
If I had to fit myself into a stereotypical category, I would pick a tie between “school girl”and “artsy girl.” I always try to do my very best on school assignments, I take pride in knowing things that other people don’t know, I care a lot about proper punctuation and grammar, I often correct other people, but I get annoyed when people correct me. I also excel at drawing, painting, music, drama, things like that. But there are some things about me that people don’t normally associate with those two personality types, and those are the things I don’t normally put on my “About Me” list. I often claim not to be the sporty type, but I do really like dodgeball and soccer. I’m much more of a “girly-girl” than a “tomboy”. I like to shop. I like playing with LEGO Friends and American Girl dolls and a lot of other toys. I could play video games for hours on end. Although I don’t often tell people these things, I’m not ashamed of them- they just don’t fit in with the person I want people to think of me as. But, as Hagrid says about being a half-giant in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, “I am who I am… And I’m not ashamed.” I may not be half-giant, but I do know that I’m not afraid of who I am.
Why am I posting this? I guess I just really want people to know that there’s no reason to hide those little quirks about you. You are an amazing person, warts and all, no matter what. 🙂
Rainbow of Words 