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Becoming Aware of the Masks We Wear

Insights from One of the World’s Greatest Psychologists, Rollo May

Clifford Jones
4 min readJul 17, 2024

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“Children and crazy people tell the truth, and unfortunately, children soon learn not to.” — Rollo May, Author and Psychologist

The Age of Innocence

Remember when you were a kid and said or did things that held severe consequences?

I’ll never forget the day I lied to my mother about jacking $6 from her purse when she wasn’t looking.

I was six years old, and I wanted to buy my friends squirt guns at the local drug store.

Innocent enough, right?

Not.

In the 1960s, store owners knew virtually everyone who shopped with them. In my family’s case, we lived in Waban, Massachusetts, next to Newton.

It was a small town. Everyone pretty much knew about each other.

Because of that, the drugstore owner ratted me out to my mother. When she asked me if I had taken money from her purse, I had no idea she had talked with the drugstore owner.

Naturally, I lied because I was terrified of the consequences. Even more naturally, my mother knew…

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Clifford Jones

I write about mental health and the art of human transformation. Serving company founders and leaders as a strategic coach, revenue builder, and consultant.