Authenticity Beyond the Surface

There’s wisdom in choosing when and how to express your feelings. Over-sharing or showing everything could actually be seen as less authentic if it’s done just to meet others’ expectations of what “real” should look like. Authenticity is about staying true to what feels right for you, not what others expect.

You can manage your emotions without pretending they don’t exist. Emotional regulation is a skill that helps you maintain your well-being and interact with others thoughtfully. It’s not about hiding your feelings, but about expressing them in a way that’s appropriate for the context.

Some people are comfortable being vulnerable and open about everything, while others might be more reserved or selective about what they reveal. That doesn’t make one person more authentic than the other—it’s just a difference in how vulnerability is expressed.

There are times when showing vulnerability is appropriate, and other times when it might not be. If you're in a professional setting, or in a situation where your emotional state doesn’t impact the people around you, it may be more authentic to keep things composed. That doesn’t mean you’re hiding your true self—it means you’re discerning about when to share.

Here’s the truth behind it:

- When someone shares a lot, people often label them as “too much,” “dramatic,” or “attention-seeking.” But they don’t usually question if that person is fake—they just see them as emotionally intense or messy, not inauthentic.

- When someone shares very little, people often say things like “I don’t trust them,” “they’re hiding something,” or “they seem fake.” That’s because in many cultures, being open is equated with being real—so holding back is misunderstood.

But both are valid ways of being.

Expressing oneself and keeping things private are both valid ways of living. People express to feel noticed and some guard to feel secure. None are false.

This is a human bias fact, but not the whole story.

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