Please come to my house and hang out with me. I won’t clean it up for you. When you walk across my kitchen floor, your shoes may stick to the tiles every now and then. You will have to move shoes from in front of the couch when you sit down. There may be a hoodie or pair of socks in some random place that only you will locate because the rest of us who live here have not been able to find them for years.

Please come to my house and have lunch with me. I won’t make you the lovely chicken salad with walnuts and cranberries that would impress you. I won’t bake homemade bread for us to enjoy. Rather, we will probably munch on Saltines, String Cheese and sliced apples. You can sit at my kitchen table with me and scrape off the remains of breakfast before you place your paper plate on the streaked glass surface. If you spill some tea on your seat as we eat, don’t worry. The cushions are already stained. I won’t steam clean them before you arrive.

Please come to my house and have dessert with me. I won’t make that chocolate pie I want to, but instead , we will most likely enjoy a chocolate kiss so old that the foil is stuck to it because it’s left over from last Easter. And, I won’t even find that ancient chocolate kiss until you arrive. I will forage through my pantry to find something to satisfy our sweet tooth after we eat lunch and throw our paper plates away.

Please come to my house and sit on my back deck with me. I won’t sweep off the pollen and dust from the furniture until you get here. When you arrive, I will run back into the kitchen, grab a dish towel and apologize as I wipe off your chair before you sit down.

You will probably ask where the paper towels are because you will spot some bird droppings on the table where we want to put our water bottles. Since the paper towel holder in my kitchen will have a brown cardboard tube on it rather than fluffy, 2-ply Brawny, the paper towels are in the pantry. I will tell you thanks over and over because I will probably feel embarrassed.

Please come to my house and be… just be. Be yourself because I will be myself. Please do not clean up your life before you come, mine is messy too.

Please come to my house and bring your dirt and stains because they will be welcome here. I, too, have dirt and stains. I wish I could hide them, but you will probably feel more welcome if I don’t.

Please come to my house and see the real me – not the pretty me or the cleaned up me or the fake me.

Please come to my house and be the real you – not the pretty you, the cleaned up you or the fake you.

Please come to my house and feel welcome because you are… just the way you are.

Question: What are some of the benefits of letting others see the real you? Why do you think we try to make our lives look perfect?