As someone who believes strongly in the value of being real, of confessing, of knowing and being known, I live a life torn in two directions. As desperate as I am to be known, I think the vast majority of people around me see the smile on my mouth and call me blessed. What they don’t realize is that I have so much to say that doesn’t come out. They don’t realize I’m a messed up head-case who’s insecure and needy and impatient and selfish—but as much as I want them all to know that and accept me and love me, the reality is that I don’t trust that they’d really accept me if they knew the real me. I can barely get people to like the projected me, so what hope is there that they’ll accept the whole, unfiltered me behind the projected me?