When I was little I LOVED playing Hide and Seek. Any time I hid, almost immediately I had to go to the bathroom … bad! I don’t know if it was the quiet, the pounding of my heart, or just the nerves about getting caught, but I had MANY near accidents playing Hide and Seek. Hiding was a lot more difficult and stressful than I had anticipated.
I’m not sure that hiding as adults is much different than the hiding we did as kids. We just hide better. We sock things away where other people can’t see them – those things might be secrets, sin, or even hiding our true selves from others. The trouble with hiding is that it is hard, stressful, and you are always found out in the end.
Ever hide, “grown-up” style? How do you get out of hiding … and out into the open? On a side note, anyone else have your nerves get the better of your playing Hide and Seek as kids?
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I always giggled. To this day if I am in a situation that is scary or if someone is hurt I always get the giggles. The problem is I have the hand me down “cackle” from my mom that you really can’t hide. It’s bad.
I still “hide” as an adult. I have mastered the “great and how are you” comment with the huge smile when I really just want to scream/cry or whatever emotion is truly there. I’m not always good at it- in fact I’m pretty bad at it- but there’s always something about dropping my junk with the people that I know truly care that makes coming out of hiding seem a little easier.
I’m like Kim…I’d end up giggling. The anticipation was just too much!
Hiding as an adult…you bet, especially to people in the church that I don’t really know. I mean I want to give a good impression…of the church in general, of my husbands youth & children’s ministries (those that are close to me know how I really feel, though), and honestly, do people really want to know how I feel…should they know?
I hide for a living, basically. I get to sit at my computer and write, and send it out into the world, without ever having to show my face, if I don’t want to. I tend to like it that way. A world without mirrors would be heaven, in my book (and my current kids’ book project heads that direction…)
Abby LOVES hide and seek, and I have found that I can get a whole lot done during an average game, if I’m on the counting end of things…”1…2…3…4…(folding laundry)…5….6…7…8…(putting some away)…9…10…(dusting a dresser with a stray mateless sock)… On the hiding end, I can usually get in a small cat nap, if my hiding spot is good enough. Soon she’ll get old enough to realize that each hiding phase shouldn’t take a half hour, but until then…zzzzzzz.
Sorry if it’s a bit deep but…I have learned to hide from a very young age. Bruises from teachers and others, tears from my parents, and my true self from anyone (including myself) to preserve my feelings and protect myself. Nothing has changed as an adult….I still hide as a means of preservation. I am learning how to step out into the open bit-by-bit. I think it takes all of us creating a safe environment in our churches and beyond for people to step out of the shadows without fear and to be loved and accepted for who they are.