The Fear of Being True

What makes us so scared to talk about what we are really feeling.  Many times in my life I find myself holding back.  I have to consciously tell myself to be open, express my thoughts and feelings.  It seems that so many of us are programed from a young age to try and only present the very best parts of ourselves or what we perceive is the best parts of our self.  But then, what we end up doing in the end is being untrue to who we really are.  It's a shame to me how individualized our society has become.  We are encouraged by society to isolate and only depend on ourselves.  People have been so hurt by others, so many times that we as a society have learned to put up our walls of defense and not let anyone inside to see the real core of who we are.  It's scary to let other people see.  But when we do this with someone who is safe then we finally get to experience what it's like to really be who we were intended to be.  Who we are with no defenses or masks to cover the things that we think are dirty, scary, or unpresentable.  In order to be vulnerable to have to be able to understand that yes, we might get hurt, but that we won't miss out on all of the wonderful things that we cannot see when we are hiding behind the mask.