Who are you when no one’s looking? I remember my mother reading this quote to me. I was young, and for some reason, it actually creeped me out. (LOL.) For the longest time, I believed both Santa and God to be these forces in the sky, watching me with a telescope to see what I was doing every second of the day. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized both the significance of that quote, and that God was far less of a creeper than I had once imagined Him to be.
But the words stayed with me.
Who are you when no one’s looking? Even today I feel so connected to that quote. Being yourself—once you figure out who you are and what you stand for, that seems easy. You just choose all the things that are aligned with your purpose and heart. You just make decisions that sit right with you. You just do what you believe is the right thing. You just pick Instagram photos that match your theme, or quotes that match your vision. And because you’ve made a stance, gathered a following, become associated with a certain belief, people also hold you accountable. Which is scary, but good.
But when no one’s around to make sure you’re doing what you said you would?
When you’re off the screen, the live feed, the Twitter rant? When you’re in the confines of your space, your room, your own mind—are you still aligning with that inner mantra? Are you still following your ‘rules’?
I wrote about this today—the idea that who we are shouldn’t change, even when we’re by ourselves. Sure, we might be able to dance freely in our underwear or scream profanities in the comfort of our own four walls, but the values that define us, the hopes in our innermost parts—those things shouldn’t change.
We should feel free to be ourselves—not only when people are watching, but even, and especially when we have no one to account to. When we’re singing in the shower, when we’re binge-watching trash tv, when we’re reading the Bible or cyber-stalking our crush on Facebook. Whether we’re on or off the screen.
No matter what we do, and where we are, we should still be us.
Are we?
Featured Image Credit: Andrik Langfield Petrides
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