This Alfred Hitchcock quote was the lead in today’s post to the Jack’s Winning Words blog – “I have a feeling that inside you somewhere there’s a somebody nobody knows about.” Hitchkock would have made a movie about that – perhaps he did.
All of us have secret somebodies within us, if only in our dreams or imaginations. Few actually act out those hidden somebodies in their real lives, but they do tend to influence us from time to time. Jack mentioned politicians and how their secret selves (or the skeletons in their closets) somehow come out, or at least are exposed to scrutiny, in the spotlight of attention that is trained on them during their campaigns. Everything that each has ever said in public (or private) is dredged up and used against them.
Think about your secret self. Is it that rock star or high performer that you always wanted to be, but were too shy to let out? Is it that self-confident person who asks out the girl/guy that you’ve always admired from a distance? Is it the sales person who is not afraid to ask for the order or deal with objections? Is it that person who is not afraid to speak out against bullying or injustice? Perhaps it is that confused soul within that desperately wants to declare a different sexual identity, but who is afraid of the consequences. Maybe it’s that partner who feels trapped in a marriage that no longer makes sense. It could be that worker who regrets having chosen the profession that they feel trapped in now. Or, maybe, it just that happy soul that wants the chance to go out and play again as it did when you were a child.
It would seem that the first step to dong something about the dilemma that Hitchcock postulated is to admit to yourself that the somebody inside you is there. You need to do something other than suppressing that somebody. First, deal with recognizing what it is that this somebody wants or needs that is different from the life that you are living. Second, find a way to get those wants or needs out into the open. Maybe you can discuss it with a trusted friend or maybe you need the help of a professional counselor. Maybe these unfulfilled dreams or desires need to be discussed with your life partner (assuming that a break with your life partner isn’t the unfulfilled dream).
The point is to bring that secret somebody to the surface in your life and examine the consequences of acting upon those desires or unfulfilled dreams. For most, these are not negative things and the support that you might find from your life partner or friends will help you actually achieve those dreams. For a few, this process will bring lingering issues to a head and provide the chance for a clean break, letting that suppressed somebody inside finally escape. For some, the chance to examine long suppressed dreams or desires may result in them finally being discarded to make room for new dreams, goals or desires to be formed. Just don’t put those new dreams and hopes back into the same secret place. Keep them out in the open.
The truth is that Hitchcock was wrong. You knew about that hidden somebody all along. You were its jailer. Now, maybe you can let him/her out and assume your real identity.
Be the somebody that you always wanted to be.
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