There is always more than meets the eye. Don’t we know that! What goes on up front is seldom the same as what goes on beneath the surface at any given moment. No matter how good you are at analyzing the surface level, you still may remain totally in dark about the things happening underneath when there is no way of checking out what is or isn’t. Appearances deceive. Let’s go  through some of the ways they do.

The face we present
As a child we show what we feel, mostly. What you see is what you get. But gradually we learn to make conscious choices on what to show to others, even if deep down we may be feeling or thinking something completely different. Then at some point in our lives, we may show very little of what we actually think and feel. And be downright dishonest, or at least not tell the whole truth.

The words we say
The whole idea of telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth may at some point feel utterly ridiculous as we have gone through so much in our lives. It may seem like nobody’s business but our own what messages we may or may not be sending to our fellow men through our facial expressions - or through the words we utter.

For after learning to talk, then talking a lot during adolescence, and enough as adults all according to our temperement, we may reduce our talking to a bare minimum at old age, not bothering to say much as all has been said and done already, and a mere touch on another’s cheek may tell it all. Or perhaps words disappear into the great void of dementia, leaving others wonder what we might be thinking. Not remembering may function as a shield throughout our lives, and words may suffer from inflation as so much that has been said was superfluous. Yet beneath each surface may hide a mountain of treasures.

The clothes we wear
In the beginning, we don’t choose them ourselves. They are picked out for us, our clothes that is. They are picked according to our gender, social status, taste or what can be afforded.

Then as adolescents we are typically very aware of what we wear, and emphasize our group belongings and status with our clothes. We continue doing that most of our lives, some more, some less.

At some point of our lives we may rebel against having to look some specific way, or just don’t care anymore. Or we have accumulated so many items of clothes over the years that we don’t want to spend another dime on them. And there is always the possibility that some of those old items will one day match some forthcoming trend - or our figure.

But it goes without saying that if you want to make a good first impression on someone, clothes may do the trick! Only, it might be just that, a trick. The finest of clothes don’t make a gentleman or lady, and the poorest of clothes may hide a king at heart. Keeping up appearances may safeguard us though from letting ourselves go.

But even being naked, totally devoid of clothes to cover us, warm us, elevate us, is not the same as showing it all. For you can hide within your skin just as masterfully as you can hide within your clothes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z91wpv0zU2k

The politics we keep
Just as so much is hidden on the personal level, what you see in politics is far from the whole truth. Sometimes it is not the truth at all, but a pack of lies. Even the most established and widely accepted “truths” may be like rotten apples - pretty fine on the outside but a total waste inside.

A good method of diverting attention from the real existing problems and needing to succumb to legal action in order to get to the bottom of things is to label all nosy inquiries collectively as conspiracy theories. And thus ridicule them and the forces behind them. That doesn’t negate the fact that the powers in charge of politics lie though.

The most blatant lie may be the easiest to digest for the public, all the while as the hidden agenda or facts continue with their own processes underneath. The examples are too numerous to count. It is not the intention of this site to label anybody or anything, but truths are kept from the common man and woman in all societies and countries. Sometimes the intention is good and/or necessary, but very often it is governed by personal interests. The people we elect - if we do elect them, indeed - to represent us, very easily start representing themselves and their factions instead. And the good ones get buried in the intricate webs of political power. In the end, it is the money that talks.

Since only the surface is visibly seen, and what is beneath only shared knowledge or realized by keen observation, trust matters. But in the end no one is totally known, perhaps not even to ourselves. For we may have to dig very deep to find ourselves - if we even do want to know - and in the business of everyday life, that is a mighty task. We may need to vacate the premises of ourselves in order to make room for that to happen, and find the peace within us. When time and space are of no issue, more may emerge.

In the end, life may seem like just another Shakespearean play that shouldn’t have been taken so seriously to begin with, but more with the touch of comedy and irony.