The Big Pretend

Pretending doesn't stop when you grow up.

Only one kind does.

There are two big kinds of pretending...

One is, pretending to be something when in your heart you're something else.

You could be a singer pretending to be a waitress.

Or a writer pretending to be a housepainter.

Or a ninja pretending to be a businessperson.

And you're only yourself on weekends, or late at night all alone.

And that can be very hard.

But there's another kind of pretending...

If you're a artist pretending to be an electrician, it can be easy to envy the successful artist. To think: "She's got it all together."

But if you were this excellent artist's friend...

her very best friend...

her very best, whisper-secrets-that-you'd-never-tell-anyone-else friend...

She might tell you, in a little scared voice,

"I don't know what I'm doing."

And she'd look away as she spoke.

"Because I'm not really a good artist...

I'm just pretending.

And what will happen when everyone finds out?"

And the only thing you could say to her (because artists sometimes have a hard time believing that you really, actually like them) is:

"Don't worry.

That's how everyone feels."

Because even when you're a bestselling author...

or an excellent artist...

or a terribly witty friend...

you can often think: I'm just pretending to be what I am.

Because I'm not that all the time... Because I'm not perfect... Because I'm really very bad at it...

A lot of people think that.

I wonder what would happen if we stopped pretending?

Restaurant-goers being serenaded. Houses covered with words. Meetings delightfully disrupted by shuriken.

Admitting that we don't really think we're all others make us out to be...
that we're 'faking it'...

That would be even more scary, perhaps.

But maybe someday.

And until then, if it gives you comfort -

Remember you're not the only one pretending.