Very few of us are who we seem to be.

We tend to think that we know ourselves. That we know others. That we recognize good and evil, truth and lies, our desires and the intentions of others. But the truth is much deeper, and sometimes more disturbing: very few of us are who we seem.
This is not just an aphorism. It is a sentence of the time we live in. And at the same time – a chance.

Agatha Christie: Teacher of Exposure

In this sense, Agatha Christie is not just a detective writer. She is a surgeon of human illusions. Her characters seem one way at the beginning of the story, but by the end they are different. Or rather, they are revealed to be what they have always been, but no one – neither the reader nor they themselves – noticed it.

How many of these masks do we have? How many roles do we play without even realizing that they are roles? Caring. Confident. Ordinary. Heartless. Harmless. Sometimes even the most sincere of our masks is not us, but who we have been taught to appear.

Why are we afraid to be ourselves?

Because being yourself means stepping out of line. It means breaking the script that everyone lives by. It means saying, “I’m different,” even when no one asked. It means risking being rejected, misunderstood, out of place.

But the other side is even scarier: living a life that is not your own. Being a piece on a chessboard, not even knowing that someone is already playing you.

Agatha Christie spoke the language of secrets and murders. But in reality, she was not describing a crime, but the fear of being exposed, the fear of being yourself. And those few who managed to overcome this fear.

How to know who you are

This is a lifelong question. But the journey begins with one honest step: to doubt. Yourself, your image, your reaction. Why did I say that? Why am I silent? Why am I afraid or ashamed? Who am I trying to please?

Each such "why" is a step from the apparent to the real. And where there is authenticity, there is freedom. There is choice. There is also the opportunity to live not according to a given role, but according to an inner call.

Turning towards yourself is always a detective

And in it you are both a victim, an investigator, and a suspect.

You follow in the footsteps: you remember, you observe, you ask questions. What is real in me, and what is borrowed? Where do I live, and where do I survive?

Agatha Christie did not write psychological treatises, but she taught the main thing - always look a little deeper than you want. And trust not the first impression - neither in relation to others, nor in relation to yourself.

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Very few of us are who we seem to be. But if you think about it, then you have a chance to become who you really are.

Those who we seem to be and those who we keep silent about

We live in an era of publicity. We need to seem. Visible, understandable, successful, interesting, strong. But here's the strange thing: the more we seem, the further we move away from our true selves. Because very few of us are who we seem.
And there is no tragedy in this. There is simply a deep, not immediately audible invitation to remember yourself. The one about whom we are silent even in our thoughts.

The world is a stage. But who am I outside the role?

From early childhood we are given a script: be good. Smart. Exemplary. Then - effective. Friendly. Independent. But no one asks: how are you alone? Who are you when you don't have to play?
People live for years in roles so convincing that even they believe in them. "I am calm," says the one who holds back an ocean of anger deep inside. "I am light," smiles the one who cannot talk seriously to anyone. "I am strong," says the one who has long been exhausted, but is afraid to admit his fatigue.
We live in t