There comes a time in everyone’s life when they are forced to introspect a little and really ask themselves who they are. Sometimes we create an illusive self image and when that doesn’t match the reality of who we are, it leaves us rattled.
This is not limited to the self though as we sometimes find it hard to figure out how someone else is in reality. Many a times it happens that there is a sudden change in the person we had known for a long time, and it leaves us confused about their true nature.
The other day I was thinking about all this and I came to the conclusion that maybe we have different levels of personalities within ourselves or even different personalities altogether. We could also say that we have different set behaviours for different people/situation and we choose accordingly.
The same person can be totally different in one situation and with one group of people compared to another totally different situation and people.
The comparison with an onion is kind of an interesting one. It depicts that we have all these different layers on top of each other and there is this core which is the true self, the self that only we know exists.
The different layers are the different behaviours, attributes, personalities, preferences, comfort levels, and a thousand different aspects of ourselves that we build over time on top of our true self to portray as needed and according to the situation and people.
Some of those layers are transparent and we can easily see through them. Like when you immediately notice someone being fake because they are visually uncomfortable in their own skin.
And then there are some layers that are crafted with such attention to detail and care that we begin thinking it is just as true as the core because that’s the self you want to portray to the world as who you are!
No matter how many layers you have built on top of your true self, there will always be that someone or that group of someones that you will peel off your top layers for. Generally this group is composed of family and friends.
But even within this small group, not everyone gets to go to that deepest core of your being. Sometimes peeling off the layers can be a teary experience, just how it is when you peel off a real onion.
That is we are always so cautious about who we do it with. The people who want to go deeper despite the tears are the ones who deserve to stay there and such people are rare.
So, if you find someone like that, hold on to them and try to swim to their deepest parts. That’s what being a human means. To connect on that level, which almost seems extra-dimensional and something which cannot be described with words.
