Home/Self & Identity/Personality masking/ThoughtSometimes you just stand there—shoulders back, chin up, like a soldier whose war ended fifty years ago but the uniform still fits.personality maskingsettling regretachievement emptinessShare this thoughtCopy linkShare on XDownload imageDoes this resonate with you?Share Your OwnBrowse MoreOthers have felt this tooYou follow the rules, you keep your boots polished, and you never let the mask slip. …personality maskingA sort of perpetual deployment, you might say, and she was the only medic on site, the only one with the necessary training, the specific protocols etched into her very being. …caregiver identity lossI just sit there in those Tuesday morning meetings at the nonprofit, where they’re all talking about bootstraps and “personal responsibility” and the sanctity of... …workplace pretenseI offered to help at the craft fair, I really did, because I’ve been sewing since I was a little girl, before the war of course, when everything was… I don’t know, simpler? …invisible agingRelated Themes"Am I Normal?" Aging AnxietyAge-inappropriate interestsBody image strugglesIdentity confusionPast self embarrassment