feeling fake?
If you have ever felt fake or that you have to somehow discover “the real you”, it’s okay. You’re not lying to people by behaving differently depending on who you’re talking to. That’s just code switching.
There is no “true you” that exists independent of your social context. The social norms and expectations around you are a core part of what makes you, you.
No space is free of social pressures. You’re always responding to how other people react to you or what you think they’d want or need to hear. That’s not bad; it’s the reason why different people bring out different sides in you, often for the better.
You’ll never arrive at your true you. You always change depending on who you regularly surround yourself with, your current goals, your health and more. You’re always a piece of work, unfinished. The path, the journey is the point. How beautiful that you’ll always get pushed into mental territories you haven’t been to before.