If I could, I would...

be completely open to others, never pretentious or closed off. Sometimes it's difficult to come out of my shell, but I'm learning. If I intuitively pick up on the fact that others aren't genuine, I tend to "go there," too. I mean, if someone isn't going to give me the respect of knowing him or her rather than a mask, I tend to think that person deserves the same from me. I definitely go there less often than I used to, but I never like myself afterward. It leaves me wondering how those who are never real really know who they are. At some point, do they lose that sense of who they are or the desire to even know anymore? The trappings of wanting to impress others can become chains of loneliness. That's not a place I want to live, and deep down, I feel for those who make it their home.