Welcome to you and the other version of you that people may not see immediately: It’s Duality Month on Man Repeller!
Our human dualities exist in many forms and reveal themselves in different phases. I grew up being very aware of my two selves, my two lives: one on the west coast with my mom, the other on the east coast with my dad. I was largely the same person in both places — my core values didn’t change just because of location, but depending on where I stood, I felt like two different “me’s.” I approached things differently, acted a little differently, hung out with very different groups of friends.
Later, just after college, I discovered a whole new version of myself: the person I was during my very first full-time “official” job, and how different she was from the me at home, or the me on weekends. At work, I was so nervous all the time, so stressed and so scared to mess up that I became a bit of a robot to get through the days. I remember calling my dad after my first month and telling him, “I’m pretty sure no one at the office knows who I really am.” Then I remember wondering if at work, in that particular kind of context, my boss knowing “who I really am” mattered.
Answers to that question came later, as did new realizations about all the other versions of myself that existed in tandem. The reason I tell you about this is because we’re going to explore these kinds of questions and realizations this month on Man Repeller. We plan to cover “ghost ship lives” (that other life you could have had if you made the other choice — you know the one); whether acting differently around different people makes you fake or an adaptable chameleon. We’re going to play with duality as it relates to love, fashion, work and friendship, too. Because everything has two sides.
And given that May is Mental Health Awareness month, we’re going to explore our relationships not just with our many selves, but with our minds.
Before I let you go, let’s get the twin elephants in the room out of the way (gently, please!): June, because it’s Gemini season, would have been a great old time to dive into duality. But that would have been too obvious, don’t you think? And besides, better to have a grasp of all your many selves before you go into summer; it’ll help you figure out if you’re going to be more of a one-piece kind of woman this summer or if you’re heading back to bikini land.
Okay, I’m done talking! Drop any and all stories you’d like to see in the comments below and we’ll get brainstorming!
Feature photo by Louisiana Mei Gelpi; Art Direction by Emily Zirimis.
