Candor Strikes Again

In this age of perception manipulation and the spinning of reality to achieve narrow agendas, a brush with candor comes as a bracing shock. While initially pitying the naive soul who bleeds voluntarily as the sharks circle, we subsequently catch ourselves remarkably refreshed and secretly envious of their courage and integrity.
By candor, I do not mean emotional exhibitionism. Those people whose pain is so deep that they feel compelled to revisit their shame with anyone who will listen.
In the ordinary course of making decisions, though, responding to problems, choosing directions and interacting with others, our confidence, poise and security can either be a mask we put on or a more natural comfort with ourselves, others and the world. When wearing a mask, the risk of being exposed feels enormous. And so we spin, bifurcate, dance and blame—in short expend vast amounts of energy—in order to keep people from noticing that the powerful visage they have come to trust is but an artificial veneer. When we've made our peace with our imperfections, no mistake, failure or offense can bring us down, because we had nothing to hide in the first place. Very freeing.
It is this freedom that arouses envy and admiration. Far from a naive form of self-betrayal made by those unable to maintain their masks, candor is the deliberate communication choice of the free.