THE MOODY MAVEN

Am I This or Am I That?

We all have public faces and private faces, and even other faces we sometimes let slip

I can always see myself even when others don’t. Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

Public faces are how we are seen by others. It seems obvious that our public face is a mix of subconscious attitude and purposeful action. Often, it is just ourselves au naturel, or at least we’d like to think so.

I would imagine that trying to look different than my resting face would be awfully tiring. Constantly checking and rechecking that you didn’t look too grumpy or sad or anxious would be just so much work. Anyone would wear themselves out trying to do that all day. I know I would.

I must admit, I do not know if my resting face is due to a degree of practice that makes it appear real or if it is real. Asking questions like that should point to self-awareness, a degree of curiosity even about myself that might tell me things I don’t know or that I don’t want to know.

Ultimately, of course, the answer can get complicated. And really, shouldn’t it be obvious to anyone who has been among other people more than once?

So, I’ll ask it again, “Am I this or am I that?”