No more pretending

One of the things this pandemic has revealed is just how much acting we do at the office and/or around colleagues, clients, bosses, and customers. But now? You can see inside people’s homes. You can hear the dog, and hear (and often see) the kids. (“Hiiiiii, Sammy!”)

We all now understand just how much everyone is going through, not only because of this disease, but in general, in life, as the responsibilities and emotions involved in being an adult human are always there.

Then we switch on our work faces, and we pretend that’s not the case. We compress ourselves into these one-dimensional versions of ourselves.

It's needless. It's distracting. It's wasteful. It saps us of our energy, like a superhero whose power is shapeshifting, but who must dedicate at least some energy focusing on holding the new face in place. It’s this background program that we’re forced to run, imperceptibly, but it’s enough to drain us and prevent us from more fully engaging in better things.

It’s all we can do to hold up the facade, to put on a good face.

In sum: We pretend.

Lots of things will be different when things lurch forward again. Let this be one of them: No more acting. No more putting on face.

Be who you are, and be honest about it.

No more pretending.

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