I Thought It Was Just Me (But it Wasn’t)

By Brene Brown, Ph. D., LMSW

We spend too much time and energy managing perception and creating carefully edited versions of ourselves to show the world. There is a constant barrage of social expectations that teach us being imperfect is synonymous with being inadequate. Everywhere we turn, there are messages that tell us who, what, and how we are supposed to be. So we learn to hide our struggles and protect ourselves from shame, judgement, criticism, and blame by seeking safety in pretending and perfection.