Let's play pretend

Everyone hides.
It's a line from the Showtime show Dexter that I can't get out of my head. Everyone hides. So true. per usual, it's some one-liner that has me inspired to blog.
This got me thinking about people's perceptions of others and how off they can be. My friends from Cashmere, from home, think I'm the biggest girly-girl to ever be born and bred in the country. I wear heels. lipstick (eee gasp!). Pink (offensive much?). To them, I'm a ditzy air-head who somehow slept her way into law school (I mean, there's no way I'm smart....right? **there is a difference between book smart and common sense smart!). It's not their fault that they see me like this. That is the role I play within the Cashmere group of friends. Everyone has their place and mine just happens to be covered in pink and shiny things! I love things that glitter! True story. Pete always makes fun of my short attention span and that I'm easily distrac...ooooh shiny things! Chanel, Rachel, & Sarah, my undergrad besties, would concur with Cashmere. Though Sarah has me beat.
My friends at law school think this interpretation of me is hilarious and completely untrue. Nat and Jenn quite often tell me I act to things like a guy, think like a guy, and (as my foul mouth can attest) react like a guy. A guy with a killer booty! psh. please. I tell them that I hang out with mostly guys and relate to them better, hence how I act/react. I don't care if my friend dates my ex. I didn't want to date him anymore and as far as I'm concerned...can't we all just get along? I hate confrontation. i think that's what it is.
But is this playing pretend, or is this "hiding"?
Dexter, for some background info, is a serial killer by night and stand out guy by day. it's true when you think about it. there is always something that we're hiding, whether it be small things like that Tina Turner CD (Beau), or something big like purging after large meals or being gay. I've learned not to hide anymore. it's not that I wear my past on my sleeve or particularly like to talk about what I hid, it's that I don't let it get to me anymore. It's no longer my elephant in my room. it's my figurine on the mantle. I've also learned that our experiences, when shared, can help guide others who are struggling to find air in similar waters. if you know what I mean.
People hide in a number of ways: whether it be literally hiding something or covering something up. It's not that we don't want to share, it's just that we don't think society will accept it...or even worse...that we ourselves wont accept it. Like when you say it out loud it becomes real. The words make the difference - the difference between plywood forms & rebar v. freshly poured concrete. That shit's permanent. for instance: last year at this time I was depressed. I didn't say it or even really know it then, but I know it now because now I'm not. I'm free. I'm not sure how, but I wont ask questions. Maybe it wasn't truly "clinical depression" in the definitional sense of the word....all I know is that you can't call whatever that was "happy." Maybe it's the nearly 10 lb's I've lost. Maybe it's not. Needless to say I wont be gaining them back just for the sake of finding out! When it comes down to it, i think life is too precious, too finite to "hide." But I get why Dexter hides...I would too if i chopped up criminals in my free time.

here are some things that I don't think we should hide:

Sexual orientation (be you.)
mental disorders
hating your job (life's too short)
That you're good at something
that you're not.
That you're unhappy (life's too short)
If you love pink. and glitter
Loving Britney Spears!!!
Your feelings

I'm a big fan of lists :)