when self awareness becomes self censorship

The Story

The same tool that helps you understand yourself can also be used to manage how you come across. And the line between the two is blurrier than I used to think.

This episode is about the performer who only exists in my head, the front stage self I built to replace her, and the specific fear I'm naming out loud for the first time. It also gets into digital footprints, Goffman, and the strange exhaustion of saying anything at all when context can always be stripped away.

If you've ever built a smaller, safer version of yourself and called it the real one, this one's for you.

Disclaimer: this episode touches on bullying and body image.