What would Anne Shirley would say to the pop-slogan, “Be Yourself”?
Facebook is built on an idea of having one face that you show the world. At first this might seem like a good idea–as if it’s the honest thing.
The problem? Humans don’t work that way. We should not generally behave as Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady, who sees no difference between treating a duchess as a flower girl and treating a flower girl as a duchess. But aside from he way we treat people, there is also the simple rule of how we behave and even how we need to behave. Says Anne,
“There’s such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I’m such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn’t be half so interesting.”
True, some of us vary more than others; but the variance is part of humanity. It’s not just interesting – it’s real.